Emissary of Time: ReWrite
by XKey of the AbyssX
Summary: To Claire there's no greater wish than to seek that which has been lost to her:her past.But as she ventures out into an unknown world,she will find just how cruel reality can be. Will she play by the hand fate has dealt her with? Or will she dare against the fates for control over her own e answers lie where they fell and where they wait for her.
1. Key of Time

_**So, I'm back to this... -w-**_  
_**I seriously did love this one. I still do. Which is why I have decided to take it back under my wing and not only continue it(eventually) but actually rewrite. Hence the title! xD (which could be tentative but we'll see x3) It's been a long time since I started EoT (I just looked at the published date and DAYAM! Four years!) And I've noted at how my writing style has changed over the years. **_

_**I really love this story and I want to see it to the end, specially since PH has gotten so damn hardcore. So this is it. I start my redoing of Emissary of Time with much better writing skills (or so I'm thinking) and with a better written plot than before :D **_

_**So first, let me give you all the updated summary: **_

**Claire has never seen anything out of the House of Fianna since the day she arrived there at the age of eight. To her, there's no greater wish than to go out into the world and seek that which has been lost to her: her past. With only a broche and picture to guide her, she ends up the contractor of a Chain able to control time. But, because of a premonition, the days will continue until she can stop the repeating clock that threatens her existence; One cannot live while the other lives. Now Claire, a member of Pandora, must search for her memories while avoiding the one that seeks to end her life. Soon she will find the pieces where they have fallen and where they're waiting for her. But will what she lost be more important to her than the people she loves and would die to protect in her present?**

_**So, yeah. This marks the beginning of my summer -w- And hence the beginning of this new rewrite. I've decided to leave the other one and simply point towards this one now c:**_

_**FYI, I checked and noticed that broche wasn't the exact word I was looking for. I actually used it because it's the exact word I wanted but in Spanish cx but I checked on Google and apparently Webster says it's the obsolete form of brooch and that's exactly what I was going for so...I'm sticking to broche -w- Yeah, just saying.**_

_**Omgoodness, too long of an intro.**_

_**Let's just start :D Enjoy~**_

* * *

**Chapter One**_**  
**_

**_Key of Time_**

* * *

_A pair of lovers walked in the veil of night as the moon and stars showered them in their warm light. The man loved the woman. The woman loved the man. Their loved for each other was insurmountable and seemed to give them a glow that was otherworldly, almost celestial._

_One night when no moon shone and no stars came, the woman became ill and perished in the man's arms._

_With tears falling from his eyes, he bellowed an angry yet sorrowful cry. _

_"God why?" he asked to the starless night. "Why have you taken my beloved from me? What have we ever done but be happy? Why take her away?"_

_A heavenly voice only resounded answering his pleas. "It is not what you have or haven't done. It is what is destined to be."_

_Resentful to the heavens, the man vowed to bring his beloved back even if fate declined his request. Yet, he had to seek no further when a kind fairy came his way. Having no form, it simply floated before him in a spherical entity of glowing light._

_"Why do you mourn?" It asked._

_"My beloved was taken away by the heavens, unjustifiably."_

_"Why is that?" It inquired._

_"The heavens say it is fate but I refuse to give into it. I will fight against fate if I have to."_

_"I can help."_

_And so the man listened as the fairy described what needed to be gathered for his beloved to return to him._

_**Seek the twelve hours**_  
_**And to this space bring your beloved**_  
_**Once both have been gathered**_  
_**You will be granted that which you coveted**_

_And so the man traveled far and wide, through oceans and desserts, through death and hell to bring forth to the fairy the 'twelve hours' it spoke of. Once all was gathered he returned to its place along with his beloved in his arms._

_"I have brought what you sought. Now bring back my beloved!"_

_The fairy accepted his gifts and approached the two. Before meeting them, the fairy disintegrated into two smaller orbs of light. One stood over the woman while the other came to the man._

_"I shall do as I have vowed. I shall reunite you and your beloved."_

_But it wasn't the reunion the man wanted. Instead of bringing her back to life, it took the man to where the woman was. However instead of being happy that they had reunited, he mourned that now he too had perished._

_"Do you not appreciate my gift?" it's voice resonated in the starless sky. "I did as you asked and united you with the one you loved."_

_"Never like this!"_

_"Then so be it. If you do not want to be together than be separated forever." _

_And so the fairy, at having it's blessing detested, cursed the lovers and placed them in the sky as constellations separated by the vastness of the night sky. The two separated by time and space are now the star-crossed lovers of legend._

"Children!"

The hoard of kids that sat before me turned their heads towards the doorway along with Leo and I. I cringed at hearing Sister Fiona's voice and immediately snapped the book close when her head popped from outside the door.

"I knew it," she huffed at us while holding her hands to her hips. Oh yeah, she was mad. "You all have chores to be doing! Come along now!" The children dispersed in a mass of giggles and laughter and ran out the music room leaving only Leo and myself behind to face Fiona's wrath.

Well, fantastic. Little traitors.

"And what exactly have you two been doing all morning here?"

"Um..." I turned to Leo who only had a wry smile on his face. Thanks for nothing, bro. "We were...reading to the kids?"

Sister Fiona didn't look pleased at all. Out of nowhere, she pulled us both by our ears and dragged us out of there as if we were little kids. For goodness sake, he's fourteen and I'm thirteen!

"I-It hurts, Sister!" I cry out bending a little from her short stature. I could hear Leo crying out in pain too.

"You two should be tidying the library!" Once before said room, she threw us inside and stood between us and the door. "Now finish your chores before lunch!" She closed the door forcefully behind herself. I sighed knowing how mad she got when we blew off our chores.

"She'll cool down by then," Leo assured me and began picking up the books that laid in piles on the floor. I knew that most if not all of them were from Leo reading them and being too lazy to put them back up. "We should just finish this and go back."

"Yeah." I turned and picked a stack of books and began putting them away. The book that I had been reading to the kids was from the top shelf. It was easy to get out but to get back up...

"Use a stool," Leo's chiding came to me while I reached for the top shelf on my tiptoes. Even so I still didn't even touch the edge.

"I don't need...no stupid..." my grunting was only under my breath and I was starting to get angry at myself for being so damn tiny.

Out of nowhere, I felt a warmness from behind me and an arm came over my shoulder and grabbed the book. "You should listen to him. You're too short for this." He quickly and with no trouble placed the book back where it belonged.

I turned with my cheeks puffed annoyed and had to look up a few inches to see his face. "Didn't need your help, Elliot."

He chuckled at me just making me more annoyed. Leo came up to us leaving the books aside, "Back again?" Ah, true. As stupid as it sounded, I just noticed Elliot was really here.

"Yeah. Came with Ernest and Claude." I couldn't help but sigh at his answer but he caught my relief. He turned to me with a confused look on his face, "Are you really that scared of my father?"

"S-Shut up, okay!" I called out to him while crossing my arms. "I just don't like him."

"Don't worry, he doesn't like anyone. He's just like that," he assured me. Leo and him began talking while Leo worked. I went on ahead and did the same. I caught myself staring at them and shook my head.

Those two were...quite fascinating at best and annoying at worse. It surprised me that ever since Elliot came here, he and Leo were always talking to each other. That or fighting. It was the same ever since we all met. The day Elliot came with his brothers. The day he met Leo.

Back then I had always hated the high class and their people. They were nothing but filthy liars. This was partly why I didn't like Elliot when we first met. Not one bit. Lies were bad and nobles were constant liars. Their world was just misunderstanding after misunderstanding. I wondered sometimes if this was why Elliot and his family as a whole had this innate hatred for the Vessalius Family. Then again that wasn't my place to meddle.

As for Leo and I, we met when he was brought here, to the House of the White Angel. He was twelve and I only a year younger. Back then, I didn't get along with the kids in there. I was always alone because they would always cry at seeing my face. In actuality, it was my eyes of which they were scared of. They always said my piercing gaze scared them and something about glaring at them. I never understand why they wouldn't talk to me though. In the end, they would keep their distance and so would I. It was like that for three years until Leo came. He was the same as me; cold and distant. The other kids would bother and talk to him, completely different from how they treated me. And for some reason that irked me immensely. But it had been a day were he escaped the children that he found me in this same library. I understood why he ran away from them. What surprised me was that he could see through me. Not literally but he could read me...like an open book. This piqued my interest about him and soon we became close. It was because of him that I soon started talking to the children after a while too. He was the reason why we all were such a big family now. Even today it surprises me just how much he's changed from before.

"You two never change," I murmur to myself as, once again, they begin quarreling.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

I turn at hearing voices just outside the door. At opening it I step back as Peter, one of the older boys, and his gang of runts fall forth.

"Peter?" I heard Leo call from behind me.

"What are you-" but my breath hitched at noticing a shiny, green object in his stubby hands. Dread went all over me and he must've noticed because he struggled to get to his feet to run away. I instantly dropped whatever I had in my hands and ran after him, "Come back here!" I didn't hear Leo calling after me. All I had in my mind right now was to stop that nuisance and get back what was mine.

It took me only a few seconds to catch up to the eleven-year-old. I tackled him down and quickly snatched away at his hand what he had in it. Holding it close to me, I couldn't help but rage in madness. I couldn't believe him.

"How many damn times have I told you not to touch this!" I yelled at him. He cowered against his other friends and all of them were against the wall. Good. They should be scared. They wouldn't get away that easy.

"W-We're sorry!" one replied stuttering.

"We were just playing around!" Peter countered getting his voice back.

"Playing around?!" I hissed under my breath. "I'll show you playing around!" I had my hand raised ready to slap him but something caught me by my waist and pulled me up to my feet and away from them. I instantly began kicking and punching at whomever held me against them. "Let go of me, Elliot!"

"You can't go on striking little kids!"

"I'll do much worse than just hit the little bastard!"

Sister Fiona came out of the kitchen shouting at me for what I had done. Leo went over to Peter and the others to console them. Bastards. Elliot had finally put me down when Sister Fiona came to us.

"What do you have to say for yourself?!" she reproached.

"I've told them before," I answered just as mad as before not caring that she was scolding me. "They never, ever touch this."

"They're just kids, for goodness sake," she reproached. "I'm sorry but you need some time to cool off and think of what you have done. Go to your room. You're excused from lunch and dinner."

I clicked my tongue and stormed away from them. I reached the end of the halls and entered my room slamming the door behind me. Going to my bed, I sprawled on it and glanced at the ceiling. Bring my hand up, I examined what I had ripped away from Peter's hands.

My broche seemed intact and I let out a sigh of relief that I didn't know I had been holding. This thing was the only possession I had. Ever since I came to be in the House of the White Angel, the day they found me unconscious near the hole of Sablier, the only thing I had from my past was this. This broche was the only thing that belonged to a past I couldn't remember. My only connection to it and my only clue. It was not much bigger than my palm. A small emerald top was encircled by gold loops and designs. On the emerald top, it had a design etched in gold. It also opened to show a picture of a little boy with short hair and with his hand outstretched to one side as if holding something. Since it was in black and white I couldn't discern his hair or eye color. But I knew this was important. And I wouldn't let anybody touch it.

I lowered my arm and placed it over my eyes. Dragging my arm across my forehead, my fingers brushed over the scar on my left temple. My hair hid it and it wasn't any bigger than my pinky as it followed the path of my hairline. This along with the broche were the only things I had.

A couple knocks came to my door, making me grunt. "Go away!" But they didn't heed my warning and simply opened the door. "What part of 'go away' you didn't understand?" Elliot didn't seem bothered by my angered tone and neither did Leo as he followed inside behind him. "What do you two want?"

"Nothing much," Elliot replied crossing his arms before his chest. "Just wondering what caused you to go berserk on a kid."

"Leave her alone, Elliot," Leo scolded and came up to me. He sat on my bed, right across from me. "Here, let me put it on you." I was hesitant but gave in to him anyway and placed the broche on his open hand. He unlatched it and came up to my shirt and began fumbling to put it on. "You know you overreacted, right?"

I averted my eyes in denial. "I've told them before not to touch my stuff."

Leo kept his smile on just as he finished placing it on me. He quickly moved it a bit to put it straight. "Then you shouldn't leave it here anymore. They're kids, of course they'll come barging into your room. They don't know better."

"Peter's eleven," I countered but he didn't listen.

"Keep it with you," he simply continued, ignoring my rant. "It'll be safer with you than anywhere else, right?"

My hand reached up to it and caressed it. I could never fight against his logic, "I-I guess."

He chuckled and patted my head, making me pout, "Good girl, Claire."

It had been a whole year since we first met before _that_ happened. That day I took the biggest surprise of my fourteen-year-old life. I had gone back to my room for something and was going back to the library where I had left Leo and Elliot. I've have grown so accustomed to their company. It soothed me having them here with me. But nothing could have prepared me for what came that day.

I had just turned the corner of the hall that led to the library and heard them talking. It was what I heard nearing the ajar door that stopped me cold in my tracks.

"I've made up my mind. I want you to be my servant."

Elliot's words reeled and repeated in my head like something from a nightmare. He wanted Leo as his servant. That meant he would take him away from here. Away from me. I would be alone. I didn't want to be alone again. _Again?_ My body started to shake involuntarily as my fear surfaced and took control of me. It couldn't be. Leo would never accept. He loved this place. He loved the children and everybody here. He loved me, didn't he? He would never leave me...would he?

"So...I accept your offer, Master."

Something inside me tore and brought my body to move on its own. It took me few steps to reach the door but I gasped at seeing them shaking hands.

I snapped in anger and without knowing threw the book in my hand straight at Elliot. I ran up to Leo and yanked him away, "You're not taking him away from me!" I dragged him away from the library and towards my room. Once there I slammed the door shut and dropped to a sit just before it, blocking it.

It wasn't until a few seconds later that a couple of soft knocks came to my door. I gasped and held my hands to my ears before yelling, "Go away!"

"Please, Claire, let me in so we can talk."

"No!" I cried out while trying to choke the tears away. My eyes stung though, so they were there threatening to surface and flow.

"Claire, maybe we should-"

"No!" I repeated, my anger ebbing away and being replaced by an immense pain and sorrow. "You can't leave me alone! You promised me! You said you would never-!" I stopped midsentence when my sobs cautioned me that I was close to tears. I wouldn't cry but...but I can't let him leave. I can't! "Don't leave me alone again, Leo. Please."

I'm begging you...don't leave me all by myself.

"You won't be." Elliot's sudden words caught me off guard and I unconsciously looked over my shoulder to meet the door. "You won't be left alone again because I'm planning on taking you with me too."

What? I glanced up to Leo who simply sighed in relief. I frowned unable to understand them. "What does he mean?"

"I guess you missed that part of the conversation," he simply said with a small smile. He squatted before me and rubbed away the tears I hadn't noticed fell from my eyes with his thumb, "I said you wouldn't be alone anymore and you won't. You're coming with us." I launched myself at him and embraced him almost choking him with my arms around his neck. He fell back making a big thud noise but I didn't care. He hugged me back reassuringly. I heard the door behind us open. He turned up with a smile, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Young Master. She needs some training but she'll make one fine valet."

"Both of you will," he agreed stretching his hands out to us and helping us up.

Later they told me what had happened. Leo had told Elliot, much scolding afterwards, about my greatest fear: being neglected. By ourselves, it's as if we don't even exist; we're no one. It's when someone looks at us and sees someone—only then can we 'be' someone, through the eyes of others. Through our bonds and connections.

But a week later we had to depart to the Nightray Estate. I had to admit that it was sad saying goodbye to the only home I ever knew. So even though some of them were sad, all of them stood waiting with us for the carriage to arrive that would take us and our belongings to a new home.

"Big sister!" a couple of kids called out. "Will you return for the White Flora?"

"Of course, I will!" I replied bending a little with my hands on my knees. "I still have one year, after all."

"What's that?" Elliot inquired turning to Leo.

"A ceremony of sorts," Leo explained to him. "Claire and I started it a few years back."

"What for?"

"To pay our respects," I finalized and turned to see the carriage approaching. "For those who have left this world and to thank that we have lived the lives they left us." I faced the family that I loved and smiled, "And for them to have strength to keep living. It's like a prayer sung to the heavens. I've done it for the past three years. This year will be my last and then someone will take my place."

"Um, Claire onee-san."

I glanced down and was surprised to see Peter and a group of other kids. Most of them were sullen including Peter who's eyes were puffy and red.

"What is it?"

Out of nowhere, he took his hands from behind his back and showed me a book. "For you. You always loved telling us this story so we want you to have it."

Hesitantly, I took the storybook that I had read to them countless of times before, _The Time of Night._ I brushed my fingers across the cover and smiled. I bend down and gently placed a kiss on his forehead, "I'll keep it with me always."

After that we left and I watched as the kids waved after us yelling as loud as they could with their tiny, high-pitched voices.

"We'll be back someday," Leo assured me with a strong grip on my knee. I nodded and held the book close to myself. I'd comeback and I would perform the grandest White Flora they have ever seen.  
___

Moving into the Nightray House was anything short of a pain. Most of all because the whole family was against Leo and I becoming Elliot's valets. I knew most of his family from what Elliot told me and what I have seen.

Claude and Ernest I knew because they frequented the House of the White Angel. Leo and I both had heard of Vanessa from Elliot. And his parents were something else completely. Elliot's mother, Bernice, was a beauty of a woman. I'd never seen another more gorgeous and gracious than her. As for his father, well, I have my reason but the phobia I got from him never disappeared even now.

But there were two that I met on the spot the day we arrived, ones I had never heard of before. His older adoptive brothers: Gilbert and Vincent. Gilbert seemed to be a hard-to-talk-to guy but was approachable. Vincent, on the other hand, simply gave me a very bad feeling altogether.

That feeling never stopped and it was only strengthened by what happened a few months after we came to the household.

"He said what?" I cried out half exhausted and half shocked. I held a thin foil in my right hand. It felt weird though. When we began those lessons, it was almost instantly that I held the blade in my left hand with a reverse grip. But Elliot said that wasn't proper so he was trying to drill into me that I had to wield it with my right.

"Odd, right?" Leo corroborated sitting by himself along the sidelines while reading. The huge glasses that he had requested from Elliot had gotten here a few weeks after our arrival and they now covered his face 24/7. He finally agreed to at least trim his hair after getting them. He said that since he had the glasses, his bangs weren't as necessary. I never quite understood why he wanted to hide from the world. He has such beautiful eyes too.

"Why would he care anyway?" I panted stepping back from Elliot's range. Damn, he was good. I hated to admit it too.

"Well what he said to father was that at least one of my valets should have a Chain and that you were the most qualified," he explained taking the foil away from me and handing me a towel. "Don't ask me what he meant by that either."

Qualified? I couldn't have agreed less. How the hell am I qualified for anything? Specially for contracting a Chain.

But regardless of what I thought, the appointed day had arrived too soon. I was waiting to get ready in my room with Vanessa trying to find something for me to wear. Despite how much she seems to loathe Leo, she seems to be okay with me. I don't understand much of why she hates him but I don't question her. I guess she liked me better because I was the only other woman besides her mother. I supposed she didn't have many lady friends.

"How about this one?" she suggested pulling another one of her used dresses, ones that she'd worn some years back.

"Lady Vanessa," I sigh for the umpteenth time. "Not to be disrespectful but I don't want to dress so vulgarly. Can't I just wear something nice from what I have?"

She took it to no offense and instead glanced at the garment, deep in thought. "You're right but Father specifically demands for adequate attire." She pulled another one, "How about this one?"

Well, it wasn't as bad as all the previous ones. And I was only using it for a short amount of time. So instead of spending another useless hour there, I agreed with that one. It was a simple blue dress with dark frills. Thankfully, she let me keep my broche on after much quarreling on her part. My black hair was pulled up into a nice ponytail and she simply put some make-up on me. I hated dressing up. I felt like a doll.

Tonight I would contract a Chain. I didn't know what to expect really but Vanessa assured me that I would be alright. Whatever did happen I would be guarded by Gilbert and Vincent after all and both were contractors. And although Vincent's company was something I wasn't looking forth to, Gilbert's would surely give me some comfort.

Walking down the lobby, I expected to see my two escorts awaiting my arrival. But whom I saw surprised me much more.

"Elliot? Leo?!" I ran as fast as I could with the damn heels that I had to wear down the stairs and met the two there. "What are you doing here? I thought you where heading out."

"We are," Leo assured me. "We just wanted to see you off before we left ourselves."

"I see." I smiled at them, "Well I'll be off but I'll still be here. Please take care of yourselves, alright?"

"Of course," Leo replied.

"S-Sure." Weird, Elliot never stuttered. I wondered what was wrong with him. But I ignored it and shrugged it off.

"Are you ready, Miss Claire?" A chill went up my spine at his calling my name. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed Vincent and Gilbert, well groomed, standing there waiting for me. Not wanting to answer him, I simply nodded.

"Please be careful," I repeated to the other two. "Take care of him, Leo. You know how Elliot is."

"Don't worry. I will," he answered with a smile.

"I'm right here, you know?" he grunted a little annoyed making us both laugh.

"Miss," I turned around completely at hearing Master Gilbert's voice call to me.

"I'm coming, Master Gilbert," I answered respectfully. I glanced over to Leo and Elliot, "See you when you get home."

Not long after we headed underground were the Door belonging to the Nightray's stood. My position really sucked right now. Gilbert guided the way while Vincent covered the back. I, unfortunately, was between the two. Yeah, it really sucked.

Soon we came to stand before a grand door of gold in a round room with a very high ceiling. Had the mansion been built atop the door on purpose?

"Is this it?" I asked unknowingly approaching it.

"Yes," Gilbert answered plainly. "Once you're in it, depending on your strength, a Chain will approach you to form a contract. And remember-" He's tone gave a warning to me and made me snap away from my day dream. I turned about and saw him holding a necklace with a mirror on it. "Don't drink its blood. Soak this in it instead."

I grabbed it and nodded. "And if anything goes wrong...?" I trailed off not really wanting to know the answer.

"You mustn't worry yourself," Vincent answered this time. "Gil and I will be here ready to take you back if all goes south."

Surely with Raven protecting me I couldn't possibly, say, die there right? What positive attitude I held, really. I had to take a deep breath before I forced myself to make up my mind. I had to do this.

**"Come."**

"Huh?" I spun on my heels and faced the door and noticed it was just inches away from me. When did I...move?

**"Come, mia Domina."**

Reluctantly, I reached my hand out and I was engulfed by a veil of darkness. Looking around me, I saw nothing but a void with no end. It wasn't until I heard that deep voice give out a mocking snicker that I turned to a specific location.

"Show yourself!" I bellowed hearing my own voice echo in nothingness. But before I could call back something grabbed me by my wrists and pulled me upward. I felt my feet leave the floor and my shoulders were screaming in pain from being forcefully pulled from their sockets. My grip was starting to loosened and before I knew it I had let go of the mirror I had in my hand.

**"You called?"**

I glanced up and saw a great gem floating in the middle of nothing and giving a sinister, dark glow. It was overwhelming.

"You're a Chain, aren't you?"

**"That I am. What is it you seek, human?"**

"A...A contract with you." I really shouldn't have pushed this any further. The mirror that I had was gone and without it I couldn't form a legal contract. But I couldn't let the opportunity slip either.

**"What makes you think you're capable?"**

"Of course I am!" I didn't really feel the confidence I spoke with but I couldn't show weakness now.

A rumbling laughter came across once more. **"Pretentious, I see."** He could go and stick his vocabulary up his because I wasn't about to fall for that. He was taunting me. **"You're bright to have noticed."**

"How-"

**"Did I know? Child, nothing blinds my eyes. I have seen the past, present, and future. You're arrival here was already predestined much like the lives of every human being is."**

"That's not true!" I shouted in anger. It couldn't be. Destiny wasn't etched in stone. We chose it.

**"Then how is it that you ended without your past? Was that something you chose as well?"**

I gripped the chains that had started to dig into my wrists. I felt a warm liquid started to fall from them. I couldn't stand his blatant attitude. "I chose to be here today because I want to protect what matters to me. I need you for that. My own power isn't enough."

**"What are you willing to exchange?"**

What the... Déjà vu? No, I've never...been here before. Most certainly never met such a thing as a Chain. But even before I could think it through, something in me spoke out to answer him.

"I'll find you're beloved!"

Huh?

**"Interesting. Your mind has broken all connection with the chains of your memory and yet your soul holds onto them. They are there, intact, albeit invisible. Is that your answer?"**

I couldn't stop myself. "I'll find Lacrimosa. I'll keep my promise."

**"Then be warned. My beloved lies with him and holds her powers. Much like you he will try to fulfill that which was already been etched: fate. Neither of you can live while the other remains. It is what the writings foretell. You will either walk away with your life by taking his or perish in his hands." **I felt a sudden pain on my left temple and felt more warm liquid fall. Why did he...** "You are an innocent soul who suffered under destiny's hold. I pity you."**

"I don't need your damn pity. Just form the damn contract with me already!"

The red glow intensified and made me close my eyes. But when I opened them, it wasn't that light that met my eyes. Instead a warm white one overflowed lighting the place. A huge tail uncoiled out of nowhere and coiled around the gem. Two pairs of tiny paws wrapped around the gem as a body came out to hold it in an embrace.

_"Then so be it."_ Surprisingly, his voice wasn't menacing anymore. _"You have given your terms. You have to keep your word as I shall keep mine." _Suddenly, black blood fell down from above my head and onto my broche. A bright glow came to it making me flinch. _"Let us see if you can outwit the role you were given. If so then I shall believe in your word. Teach me, mia Domina, that humans truly hold the key to their existence. Clash against the darkness that holds your light, the hate that binds your love, and the space that has stopped your time. I shall serve you, the Key of Time, for this purpose."_

I felt the chains undo themselves from my wrists and let me fall to the cold ground before the Door. Had I ever left? I saw Gilbert running over to me from the corner of my eye but even so I could feel my consciousness slipping away from me. All I heard was _his_ voice at the last thing he said.

**"So have we vowed. So shall it be."**

* * *

_**Well, how was it? :D I just got out of school and have three whole months to write for you guys! xD I finally get to rewrite this too ;w; I've taken major care on proofreading this time around so hope it helps :) **_

_**So, this is the first chapter. As I go along, you'll see the differences I wrote compared to the first one :) Hope you liked it :D**_


	2. In the Dead of Silence

_**Well I'm moving rather well so far. I'm planning to keep a constant upload if possible until I get to the newer chapters. For now, I'm trying to solidify the story to what I wanted it to be and with the new information in PH everything is fitting just perfectly. **_

_**Now for the thanks :D :**_

_**B-rabbit28**__**, ENE10. **__**Microtoa**__**, SeleneAlice and **__**Twilight Dark Angel**__**: Thanks for favorite-ing this story xD I know it's barely starting but this just brought my spirits up so much :D**_

_**Twilight Dark Angel**__**, SeleneAlice **__**and **__**xXChaoticOrderXx**__**: Thanks so much for following this story and I hope you guys enjoy as it progresses :D**_

_**So now let's go on with the next chapter c:**_

* * *

**Chapter** **Two**_**  
**_

_In the Dead of Silence_

* * *

"…"

_It can't be..._

"_._e..."

_It's still...too soon..._

"Wake up!"

The figure's head snapped to attention towards the woman. His head was hooded by a red cloak and he'd been sitting against a broken pillar. His head had been leaning against his arm while it rested upon his bent knee while his other leg laid straight.

How long had he been out of it?

"Geez, you sleep like a log," the older woman chided the boy who simply glanced up at her with a completely stoic expression. Only at seeing his face did any concern show on her face, "Are you alright?"

"Just a bad dream..." he answered in a serene tone of voice. She stared at his aloof face and sighed after a few moments. He was so hard to understand sometimes.

She turned about on him, "So what's the status of the situation?"

"She's obtained Chronos," he answered lowering his head and gaze.

"What?" she burst loudly showing that she was just as shocked as he felt. "But, it can't... Are you certain about this?"

"Lacrimosa," he pronounced the name with a distinct lilt to his voice. The apathetic tone he used, however, said that with the name alone should have sufficed as an explanation. He felt generous for once in his life, though. "The two are connected. She informed me the moment his presence appeared on this realm. She made a contract with him."

The woman clicked her tongue and crossed her arms before her chest. "But she won't be able to do anything with him."

"Yet," he interjected rudely.

She simply waved his comment away before continuing, "My point being, as long as she just waves that stick about without knowing how it works, she'll be harmless. We should inform that boy about this nonetheless. Let's head out." With that last comment, she twirled on her blood red heels and walked off to God knew where. He sighed at the simplicity with which his companion thought things through and ended up slouching against the pillar.

If only things were that simply

* * *

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was how much my head was hurting. It felt like it was about to burst open. After that I noted how I was atop something soft and underneath something warm. I'd been tucked into bed. Looking beneath the blanket I saw my dress gone and instead I had a nightgown on. But how? More importantly...who the hell undressed me!?

My inner ranting was rudely interrupted when I heard the door to my room being opened slowly giving off a slight noise. But my mood brightened the moment as I saw who it was.

"Leo." His name came out almost as a sigh of relief. He turned towards me almost as if he hadn't expected me to be awake.

"You're up," he simply replied as he closed the door behind him. I frowned at hearing his voice. For some reason it sounded tired and pained. Was something the matter with him? The thoughts kept knocking at the back of my head all the while he approached me and sat on the edge of my bed.

His hand landed on my knee over the blanket and he squeezed it lightly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm...fine," I replied a little confused at his demeanor. What happened? "Are _you _okay?"

"Just fine." Liar. All those years with him weren't spent with a dummy. He's lying but why? He's never done that before.

Yet just as I was about to ask him what was the matter, my door swung open again. This time a little more forcefully and that was all it took for me know who it had been.

"Don't you ever knock?" I chastised Elliot for his lack of tact. "For all you know, I could've been changing."

"S-Shut up," he stuttered, his temper showing again. It's too easy to blow his lid off. "How are you?"

"Why is it that you two are asking me that first? A 'hey, Claire' would've been good too, you know?"

Elliot glanced at Leo's direction but for some reason Leo didn't return the gesture. Instead, the short-fuse answered me, "Claire, you've been out cold for the past five days."

At his words I froze and my eyes widened. I was asleep...for five days? My eyes wondered to Leo's hand on my knee just as my fingers traveled to my mouth. It didn't feel like a week. It felt like mere hours. "It's Friday then." I turned back up and faced them, "When did you two make it back?"

Once again, I noticed that Leo's gaze never left his hand on me. What was wrong with him? And yet again, Elliot answered as if nothing, "The day after. We went to the House of the White Angel." He then went ahead and told me how they had gone to the chasm in the middle of Sablier after the children that had gone missing and gotten themselves lost. All the while, I felt Leo's grip on me tighten.

"So you slipped like an idiot and knocked out?" I simply repeated how he finished.

"It was an accident!" he shouted but I knew he was embarrassed and that his ego had taken quite a hit at that. I grinned, he would never live this down. Not from me at least. Suddenly, my stomach made a prompt interruption and growled loudly. I jumped flustered and held tightly at my stomach while pursing my lips. He gave out a chuckle, "I'll tell the maids to get you some food."

"Thanks," I answered to him and he simply inclined his head and left the room, closing the door behind himself. I didn't waste any time once I heard him walk away. "What happened at Sablier?"

It took him a few seconds and when he responded his voice was low and clear to the point. "Nothing."

I sighed frustrated but didn't rage on him like I usually would. I crawled out of bed and knelt before him. I heard his breath hitch along with his grip tightening on my gown when my hands reached up to his glasses. I gave him a tight-lipped smile, reassuring him I wouldn't do anything he didn't want me to. He knew I would never and that showed by how he didn't burst out enraged that my hands went anywhere near his face. I slowly took his glasses off placing them to the side and gently passed my fingers through the mess of his hair all the while keeping my smile.

He always hated me making eye contact with him. But...I love his eyes. They were a quiet qualm that right now needed soothing of their own. I let go of his hair and wrapped my arms around his neck hugging him tightly and laid my head against his, cheek to cheek. His hands didn't move from their place, reluctant. Silence ensued quickly after but I didn't let it linger for much.

"I won't ask you what happened. I trust you'll tell me whenever you're ready to. You've always been my best friend, nii-chan, and you've been there when I've needed you. I guess, I just want you to know that I'll be here for when you need me too. Whenever that is, just call for me and I'll be by your side."

I started to pull away but his arms quickly wrapped around my back pulling me in again. "Don't, please," I couldn't help but notice how pained his sobbing voice sounded. "I don't want you to see me like this."

A small smile grew on my face when I heard him quietly sobbing. I hugged him tightly and he did the same. I started calmly stroking his head like he had so many times before when I would have nightmares. "There, there, there. It's okay. It's all going to be alright."

After some minutes his hands left my back and scurried for his glasses to place them on his face before he even allowed me to push back. Once done, I simply stared at him with a thin smile.

"Thanks," he whispered wiping his cheek with the back of his palm slightly lifting the rim of his glasses.

I smiled at him once more, "Anytime." Just then I remembered something: Chronos. "Leo, can I ask something of you?"

"Of course." He wasn't going to be very pleased with what I was going to say, that's for sure.

* * *

I'm starting to regret my big mouth. I stood before the double doors of Master Nightray's office with Leo beside me.

"You're not going to chicken out now are you?" I cringed at knowing how easy I was to read right now. It was pathetic too. Wasn't I the one who asked him for this?

A few days had passed since our little chat and Leo had assured me that if I wanted to do what I did then today was the best day to since Elliot would be busy on some personal stuff. He was right too. It was now or never.

I raised my hand ready to knock and swallowed my dread. I glanced over at him, "Just make sure not to let him in if you see him." He nods and that only leaves me to what I came to do.

Come on, Claire. Have courage!

Shyly, I knocked upon the dark, mahogany doors.

"Come in." That voice. My hand moved to the knob and turned it. No turning back now. I took a step in and went half way through the doorway.

"Master?" my voice sounded quiet but it was stern enough to be heard.

"Oh, it's only you. What do you want?" The disdain in his voice was thick enough to take space in the room. I ignored it, walked inside closing the door behind me and approached his desk.

"I've come...with a request for you."

"A request?" His eyes didn't leave the papers that he was glancing at on his desk.

I didn't let him continue speaking, and more than likely ignore me completely, so I went straight to the point, "That's right. I'm requesting to be allowed to join Pandora. W-With your permission, of course."

His piercing eyes landed on me but I tried to stand my ground and never left his gaze. He finally gave me his full attention and I don't know if that was good or bad. "What for?"

"The Chain that I have made a contract with, it seeks something that is in this world. I don't know where to start searching but I'm sure that Pandora is as good a place to start as any."

"What makes you think I'll allow it." It wasn't a question. It was a fact.

I gulped my fear away and kept talking, "I'll go in and report to you what I see from the other Households." I was going with a long shot with this one but if it worked... "I know that not many trust the Nightray Household but they won't doubt of me. I mean, what harm could I possibly do? I can-I mean, it wouldn't be difficult for me to sneak around and find information for you."

"Are you accusing me of something?" I cringed when his voice rose a bit but I didn't stand back. Did I mess up? He sighed in frustration, "Nonetheless, you could become somewhat useful to me. If I allow you to then you'll have to report to me whatever I ask of you."

"O-Of course, I will!" I called out, enthusiastic that he actually was considering it.

"However." Damn, I knew it was too easy. "You need Elliot's permission as well."

"W-What?"

"You are his, and he needs to be informed. Had you not told him about this?"

Shit. Really? "I-I haven't had the chance to-" but before I could finish the doors burst open and who else but said boy waltzed in with Leo trying to pull him back to no avail. "E-Elliot?!" I hissed under my breath.

"What are you doing here?" he called to me unable to keep his temper in check. Thankfully, it was only mild since he was before his Father.

"Your valet has requested to be allowed to join Pandora," Duke Nightray instantly answered him not giving even a chance to do so myself. "But as you know, that requires your permission." Elliot turned to face me with a shocked expression and his hands tight in fists. "What do you say? Do you allow it?"

I didn't dare say anything. I simply met his gaze levelly and pleaded that he would at least listen to me this once. Just for once in his life.

"I...do."

"Then," his father called out with a frustrated sigh. "I'll send notice to Pandora. If nothing goes out of order, someone should be here soon to accompany you to Pandora Headquarters."

"Ah, yes. Thank you very much," I say as respectfully as I can. I grabbed Elliot's wrist seeing as he was still a bit dumbfounded to move. I bowed before taking off with him and with Leo close to our heels. Finally out of his reach in my room I released Elliot and relaxed myself. I thought I was going to be rejected for sure.

"What did you mean-" at hearing Elliot's voice slowly rising in volume made me slowly turn to him. "You want to join Pandora?"

"Isn't it great?" Leo called joyfully trying to lighten the mood.

"Not even close!" Elliot shouted making Leo cover his ears.

"Elliot, listen to me," I spoke sternly and clearly ready to face his wrath if need be. "I have something to do and I know Pandora will help me. I need to go."

"You're not getting away with such shitty explanation!"

And so, at his oh so humble request, I explained to him and to Leo more in depth about what I planned to do. How I had promised Chronos to find Lacrimosa. Everything that I had experienced when I stepped into the door. I told them everything but of the boy that Chronos mentioned. They didn't need to know that. At least not now.

"Do you even know this Lacrimosa?" Elliot asked still half pissed off but a little more calm now that Leo was here with him.

"I don't, actually. The name just came out of me like nothing," I explained bringing my fingers closer to my mouth. I wondered where that name came from too. "But regardless of that, you don't have too worry much about it. School is starting in a couple of months, right? You'll be too worried about grades and skirts to think about it." He flustered and started to contradict me lamely while Leo and I laughed at his expense. He really was fun to tease. I felt the breeze blow into my room from the window Leo had left half open. Just then my ears caught a faint sound that was carried in with it.

What was that?

...a music box...?

"Claire?"

"Huh?"

"Are you listening to us?" Elliot snapped, his brow furrowed. Odd. Had I spaced out? More to the point, the sound...it was gone. Had I imagined it too?

"You must be tired," Leo proposed and give my hand a little squeeze. "We should leave you to rest."

"What are you talking about Leo. She's been asleep for five days straight?"

"I still need to sleep, you asshole!" I shout kicking him out of my room.

"How dare you?!" he cried out flustered and angered.

"If I'm not mistaken, I just did. I'm tired now and you need to sleep too. Now go be good boys and goodnight to you all." Elliot tried to fight me but Leo quickly shooed him away but not before quickly glancing over his shoulder and smiling at me. I came back into the room and closed the door behind me and quickly plunged onto my bed. Funny how even after sleeping for five straight days my body still felt tired and heavy. Before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A sharp pain came over my head and it hurt enough to wake me from my sleep. I straightened up in my bed and looked around. I felt the cold breeze hitting me again and felt cold sweat on me. Looking at the clock, I couldn't help but frown at seeing it signaled two in the morning. What the hell had I been dreaming of?

No, it wasn't a dream. This eerie sensation I'm getting. It's like...it's pulling me towards it. Without a second thought, I got out of bed and started wondering around the mansion. For a mere second I passed a window that oversaw the gardens.

I liked them. Even though we were currently in the winter house, it was still pretty since Madame Nightray always had meticulous care with her gardens regardless of the household. My attention was taken away when I heard faint voices coming from deeper in the corridors. I knew I shouldn't be eavesdropping about but at hearing the faint mumbles I had that same sensation telling me to go. Whatever it was, I had to listen.

Tiptoeing as slowly and silently as I could, I found my way to one of the empty parlors.

"My what an unusual schedule you have." Vincent? What the heck was he doing up so early? And who on earth was he talking to at this hour? I couldn't hear clearly enough. Straining my ears, I slowly walked to be up against the door to listen closer.

"We came with news, boy," a woman answered his question. She had a sweet tone of voice but her audacity showed through how she spoke. "Ones that couldn't wait."

"News?" Vincent's voice raised a bit in curiosity. "From whom?"

"Me." I felt my heart stop beating and my breathing hitch in shock. Why was I reacting like this? I couldn't understand why my body was reacting so abruptly. As if it were surprised of hearing whomever had just spoken. It had been a boy from what I heard. His voice had a lilting accent that made him sound boyish but by the deepness maybe he wasn't much of a boy after all. "She's contracted with the Chain."

To this, Vincent simply chuckled. "Oh that, I'm aware of that. After all, it was I who guided her to Chronos."

What? My hands tightened into fists while I processed what he'd just said. He guided me to Chronos? How?!

"Was that really a smart move from your part?" the woman asked sounding like she knew it really wasn't. "You know that if she meets him, it could be just enough to slap her into reality, right?"

"Well, I have my own plans laid out for her. Besides, I'm not worrying myself of petty problems that can be fixed easily. Right, Sir Red?" He gave a small pause before continuing, "You could simply erase the instant in space she remembers and it would be taken away from existence."

"It doesn't work like that," the boy called out a bit loudly and angered, enough for me to hear easily. "If I mess with the writings I'll only alter them more. I can only change the path that's chosen, the decisions and outcomes made are things I can't change. Even if I could change them forcefully it would just collide with Chronos' powers and open a hole to down under."

"Curious, isn't it?" Vincent mentioned with a playful tone to his voice. "Isn't that what got you in so much trouble in the first place?"

"Perhaps." The boy's voice sounded sad but the smugness that overlapped it was more than palpable. "Or could it have been somebody opening the door to the Abyss, say, by accident?"

"Don't play coy with me, Sir Red. I don't play nice this early in the morning." Vincent's voice was that tone that really bothered me out. The one where he acted all nice and kind but you could just catch the acerbity behind it. "For now, let us wait and see how things play out. If she starts showing signs of recovering, I will immediately contact-"

But before he could finish the whole room went silent. Had something happened? I bit my lip and thought this would be the best time to make my retreat. I slowly stepped back to not make any noise but no sooner had I taken two steps back that I bumped into someone. I didn't have time to see who it was because they grabbed me from my wrists, holding them behind me. It made me cringe under the pain. Just then the door before me opened showing me Vincent and the woman who had long, pink hair and eyes. Her eyes narrowed at me and at that moment, the one behind me pushed me inside the room and closed the door behind himself. Falling on all fours, I was quick to stand back up and face them.

"Seems you were right, Sir Red," Vincent spoke eyeing me and smiling.

"A little mouse creeping about. How rude," the woman called covering her mouth while chuckling. "What shall we do? Kill her?"

"It would be problematic if they found Elliot's servant dead for no apparent reason," he explained to her but not rising from his seat. "But if Sir Red would quit being so stingy with us..."

"I can't, Vincent. That's final." The boy behind me...was the same one that was inside the room seconds before? But how? He never passed through the door!?

Vincent gave a resigned sigh before raising and walking over to me. Stopping right before me, his hand rose and traced my jawline. "What's the meaning of this Master Vincent...?" I couldn't help but say those words through gritted teeth.

"It's no concern of yours, Miss Claire," he whispered sending chills down my spine. Suddenly, his hand came to cradle the top side of my head while the other held my waist.

"Let me go!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that." At saying those words, a sudden warmth began to emanate from his hand and soon I could feel it all the way in my skull. What...was happening? "You've heard too much. So for now, Dormouse-" the heat intensified and it was making me so very drowsy. "Make her sleep and forget. Don't worry, Claire, soon this will be all but a dream."

* * *

_**Well, as you can see so far some settings have been changed. Plenty of dialogue and some scenes too. But hopefully you all are alright with it :D **_

_**So far I love how great this is going! :D Hoped you loved it :) **_


	3. Excelion

_**Well so far its going good. You've probably noticed that I haven't really diverged from the plotline of the original as a whole. Don't worry the changes are subtle for now, they'll be more noticeable as the story progresses so hope you guys don't mind.**_

_**Let's keep it short and sweet for this one c:**_

* * *

**Chapter Three**_**  
**_

**_Excelion_**

* * *

I woke up startled and scared out of my life. Grabbing my pounding head, I couldn't remember my nightmare though. Had it been...one of those night terrors from before? No...this felt different. Completely out of place but I couldn't point out just what was odd about it.

Taking deep breaths to calm myself down, I got out of bed and went over to the mirror atop my dresser. Carefully as I could, I unbandage the top side of my head and noticed that the wound that Chronos had opened had healed completely and nothing remained but a scar over my old one.

I glanced over at the clock and noticed it was nine. Today was the day the Pandora agent would come for me in mere hours. I took a deep breath and decided to change before going out for my last meal in this place. At least it would be for a while.

At entering the kitchen I found it odd how nobody was there but Elliot and Leo. I couldn't help but notice the quietness of it all. How awkward.

I took a sit across from the two and softly murmured, "Morning."

"Good morning," Leo called like he usually did but Elliot refused to answer me. Typical. "As you can see..."

"Don't pout Elliot. It's very unmanly," I teased putting my elbows on the table and resting my chin on my hands.

"Who the hell's pouting!?" he shouted and stood up abruptly. So much so that he knocked his plate and spilled his food on himself. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and turn his glare on me, "See what you did?!"

"What I did?!" I shrieked in disbelief of his audacity to blame me for his short-temper.

"Stop it you two!" Leo called sternly throwing utensils that barely missed us. "It was an accident. Now stop fighting. I'll be right back with something to clean that with."

He quickly left towards the kitchen leaving us to ourselves. Soon enough one of us had to break it but it sure as hell wasn't me.

"It's still all your fault."

"My fault!" I burst out at his muttering.

"Had you not gone and made that stupid request I would've been just fine," he called through gritted teeth.

"Well excuse me, your Highness, for trying."

"I said stop it!" Leo called coming back from the kitchen with a damp towel. "Will both of you just act your age and apologize. Specially you Elliot."

"I have nothing to apologize to her for," he stubbornly confessed.

"You know what-ugh, never mind. You wouldn't understand me anyway!" I blurted out throwing my hands in the air in defeat.

"Fine! I didn't even want to hear what you had to say!" he yelled and stormed outside of the dinning room.

I stood there with my arms crossed and my face flustered from the fight. Finally giving out a frustrated sigh, I glanced at Leo who had sighed just the same. "I'm sorry. I know how hard it is for you to clam him down after fights like these."

"It's fine," he answered me with a smile. "You know, the only reason he's been so irritable lately has been because of you." He came up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder begging me to listen to him. "He's afraid that if you leave his sight that you could be hurt in such a way that would be irreparable. He's afraid that he won't be able to keep his promise to you." With that said he quickly left.

I pursed my lips heavily considering on going to apologize to both. Heaving a sigh, I was about to grab the doorknob when suddenly a great tremor shook the whole place. Things fell from their shelves and the tables and furniture shook intensely. I fell down to a sit trying to keep my balance in this mayhem. Then just as suddenly as it came it went away. Then it came briefly, then again, and again. It sounded like huge, massive...footsteps. This feeling that irked me was the same as when I had crossed the Door. It had to be...

The windows in the room suddenly burst out sending broken shards of glass everywhere while huge, rag hands pushed their way through them. I wasn't mistaken. "Time...of the Abyss..." A distorted voice called from the outside. It was a Chain.

"Claire!" I glanced briefly behind me to see the two that had come back.

"Go!" I yell at them and push them away from that thing. As soon as I see them out of sight I turn towards were a huge stitched-up face was looking in.

At seeing me its eyes widen, "I found Time!"

It was after me!? I couldn't let him hurt the people here. The windows were shattered and it was the safest bet that he would follow me wherever I went. I jumped out of the window not caring about the glass and stood outside.

"Hey, you stupid doll!" It took its hands and head out of the window to look at me. "Over here!" Just when I said that, I jolted out of there and heard the massive steps it gave as it followed behind me.

Now what?! This was all that I had planned so far!

**"I am still here."**

"Chronos!" I spun on my heels expecting to see him curling around his gem but he was nowhere in sight. "W-Where are you?!"

**"I'm not the type of Chain to physically fight against other Chains."**

"What use are you to me then?!" I cried out pissed off at his flat out declaration. Just then I see the Chain starting to catch up to me. "Please, tell me you're not useless!"

**"I do have this."**

I stopped in my tracks abruptly when I felt something heavy start shaping in my hands. It was then that I felt a heavy pair of medallions on my palms. They had the letter X nicely carved into them and were connected to a transparent, pink sash that seemed to float about me as if it had a life of its own. It shone in the sunlight and when the rays hit it just right I swore the whole thing was an eerie silver color.

"W-What is this?!" I called pulling it closer to me.

**"It's name is Excelion, the Tenth Hour. It's sash is sewn out of the strongest metal known in the Abyss, Orichalcum. I cannot fight in your stead but I can provide you with weapons that you can utilize to fight. These weapons can be used against humans just as much as they can be used on Chains. It will draw out your innate strengths and has the affinities of my own imbedded in it."**

In that instant the Chain had caught up with us and threw its hand at me to attack. Without me noticing, I jumped out of its way and landed upon the hand it had tried to use against me. I jumped once more onto a tree branch when he attempted to attack me with his other one. How in the hell...?

**"As I said, Excelion draws out your innate strength. Now follow your instincts and defeat it."**

I had to trust him on this. Propelling myself from the branch, I jumped out in midair just above the Chain and threw one of the medallions about it. The sash moved as I had thought and went around its neck just as I was falling on the other side. Grabbing it in my free hand and twisting the two ends, I pulled as hard as I could and landed on the floor with force on my feet. I heard the loud slashing sound before the Chain's head fell to the floor while its body slowly sank into a black hole that had appeared on the floor.

The sash had nothing on it. No stains, no tears. It was just dancing behind be while I held it as if...it were happy. Suddenly it disappeared from my hands in a burst of silver particles.

**"If ever you find the need for it's power again, call its name."**

Clapping came from behind me, making me spin around on my heels and face a man. His white hair was short and his bangs covered the left side of his face. The other half peered into me with a dark, red pupil. Just then I noticed his clothes. That uniform...I've seen it before.

"You...You must be that messenger. The one from Pandora's..." my voice isn't higher than what it needs to be. I don't want to sound to expectant and be wrong.

"Correct," he answers with a grand smirk. "My name is Xerxes Break. Nice job you did there, by the way. Although, I've got to say, the house sustained quite some damage."

"Minor," I corrected. That's the reason I ran away and made it follow me. The least damage that house took, the best for everyone. "They'll get it running faster than we could say."

"Glad to hear." He clapped his hands and took my attention away once more before motioning towards the road that led out into the town. "For now, let us leave."

"What? Now!?"

"But of course, we still have to test your capabilities with a little thing." He started walking away but turned when he didn't see me following. "Something the matter, Miss Claire?" I didn't answer him but instead glanced back at the small panic that was dying down at the mansion. We were quite far so none of us could hear each other. But even from here I could see other Pandora Members helping out. From here, I could even see Elliot and Leo helping around too.

I won't get to say goodbye.

"We must make our leave now, Miss Claire. If you want to protect them, it is far easier when you know what you're doing." Angered at his personal attack on me, I glared at him for an instance but faded away when I saw his smirk. What...an asshole.

"And the paperwork?"

"It's being taken care of," he simply answered. It was kind of intimidating that he had so much done already. Nonetheless, I followed him towards the carriage. Opening the door for me, he kindly let me in and sat across from me. I couldn't help but glance behind us as the mansion kept ebbing from my sight and finally disappearing all together. Heaving a sigh and slouching on my sit, I glanced up at him only to catch him with that same smirk while eyeing me. Creep.

"A-Anyway." I tried sitting up straighter but would only slouch back down. "What exactly is this test you spoke of?"

"It's more of a little game, if you will," he explained while still keeping that weird grin and eyes on me. "A friend of mine will help us with that and if you succeed then you'll be in for a special treat, Miss Claire." All the while he spoke, he took out a box and shook it, making noise. Poking his hand into it, he took out candies and lollipops. Odd.

"Hey! Get me outta here!"

I jolted in my seat, startled by the high-pitched voice that came out of nowhere. What. The hell. Was that.

"Oya~ so sorry, Emily," he called out and pulled a small doll from his pocket and placed it on his shoulder. "Forgot you where there."

"Yeah, right!" The doll, it answered back at him. I slouched down on my sit and sighed confused and frustrated. This had to be the weirdest person I have ever met. The rest of the ride over to wherever we were going was spent in silence. Soon enough we found ourselves before another great mansion.

This must be where he intends to take me to that person and test me. Getting out of the carriage, I could only stare and admire. I hadn't been out much since Elliot was pretty much a shut it kind of kid. "Is this..."

"Welcome to Pandora, Miss Claire," he called and started leading me through the building. I could have gotten lost by the second had he not guided me. Soon, we stopped before a door which he opened and let me in first.

Inside there were only two other people, a girl and another man. Break came up forth and motioned his hand towards me, "Reim-san, this is Miss Servant."

"Claire!"

"I apologize for any inconveniences that Xerxes might have caused you Miss Claire," the man, Reim, said as he positioned his glasses back on his nose. He gave me a small smile before bowing slightly, respectfully. "My name is Reim Lunettes and I am one of the servants of the Barma Household." I quickly reciprocated the action in respect. What a nice guy.

"The idiot-haired duke!" Emily suddenly burst.

"Now, Emily. It's not nice to tell the truth," he reproached with a slight snicker.

"Xerxes!" Reim burst out. Giggling slightly I was glad that it wasn't just me who's nerves this guy got on.

"Break, don't." We all turn at the soft voice of the girl that now spoke. Break listened, to my surprise, and sat down across from her and started eating the sweets assembled there. She sat near the table and was delicately drinking tea. Another noble, huh. "Our apologies, Claire was it."

"Y-Yes." Couldn't help but think of how pretty she was. She couldn't be that much younger than I either. What difference a world makes for people.

She placed her cup down and placed her full attention on me. "It is a pleasure to meet you. My name's Sharon Rainsworth, granddaughter of Duchess Sheryl Rainsworth."

"I see. The pleasure's all mine." No wonder she seemed quite...girly. The Rainsworth's were the only monarchical House in the Four Dukedoms.

"My valet, Break, brought you here under my request. I, perchance, saw the suggestions Duke Nightray gave to Pandora and you caught my attention quite splendidly," she continued on with a small smile.

"Funny enough since I only got my Chain a few days back, Lady Rainsworth," I add while scratching the back of my head. "I don't think I have any qualities that would deem me of any attention." Not that I know of, at least.

"And yet, if I recall correctly, Chronos has some special abilities to it."

"Abilities that I am not aware of," I intervene not wanting to get her hopes up. Whatever they're expecting of me, I certainly don't have.

"Which is exactly the reason you need to be tested," she finished and went back to her tea.

"And why Reim-san is here as well," Break added impromptu. I glanced his way only to see that a pile of dishes was stacked beside him and he was still eating more. "With his help, we will see if you are capable of wielding your Chain. March Hare is a pretty sneaky fellow. However, I presume that with Chronos' abilities, you should have no problem with it."

"And by the looks of it you've been digging into that information for a while, haven't you?" My question is more of an accusation towards him than anything.

"Indeed." Well that didn't faze him. What a let down. "Those abilities would be rather helpful to us in an upcoming mission."

"And why would I help, first of all?"

He came up from his sit and walked up to me with an empty plate in his hand. Slightly bopping my head with his plate. "Well, see it this way. If you help us—" he showed me his plate once more before my face and showed me the cake that was now on it. How? "We help you. After all..." he passed me the plate and grabbed a fork from the table. Quietly he stabbed the chocolate delicacy, making the utensil stand on its own. "Don't you wish to know your origins?"

My eyes widen in shock but I try to hide it the best I can. Thankfully, Reim spoke out of place, "Wait a minute, Xerxes! Is this the reason why you wanted me here!?"

"But of course," Break called pouting like a child. "Whom other than that sneaky bastard of yours to help us test Miss Claire."

"You bastard..." Reim hissed under his breath. "You do know I have other work to do. By that I mean your own as well."

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," Break smirked and patted my head. "So, if you are willing to do it and pass, then we'll be 'mutually helping' each other." He walked off and took a sit back near the table once more.

He almost made it sound like I had to pass. Nonetheless... "And if I don't."

He gave me a dark smirk sending a chill down my spine. Why did I open my big mouth? "Then you'll just have to keep trying until you do."

* * *

**_Pretty short. I know._**

**_But I'm keeping the original lengths of chapters from the previous story c: Hope that doesn't bother anybody. Well for now, it's been a great kick start. Let's keep the snowball rolling uphill! Once I get back to writing the new chapters, it'll be all downhill from there x3 _**

**_Thanks for reading and hoped you enjoyed it ;3_**


	4. Are Sins Ever Forgiven?

_**Well, here's the fourth chapter. I've been just plainly rewriting the chapters since the last one. The most changes you'll see will be near the middle and end, hopefully. And some in between. I just want to make this story all the more wonderful~ :D**_

_**Hope it's working! **_

_**Now let's do the thank you section:**_

_**shadowshunter12**__**: thanks a lot for being the first reviewer of the story xD it makes me extremely happy. And don't worry, you'll find everything in it's due time ;) and also thanks for the favorite and follow! :D**_

_**Marronn**__**: thanks so much for the favorite and follow of this story :D don't worry it'll get better!**_

_**Having done that, we can now return to our usual programming -w-**_

_**Enjoy~ :D**_

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_**Are Sins Ever Forgiven?**_

* * *

Immediately after our little conversation, Sharon sent me away to a room to change for the test. It seemed that my clothes, according to her, weren't quite apropos for the occasion.

The room she sent me to was a vacant one apparently and inside the wardrobe was the outfit prepared for me. I put on a simple white shirt with long sleeves and over it a black vest. Along with that I wore a pair of black shorts and a pair of knee high, heeled boots. I found it funny how I could bear with heeled boots but loathed high heeled shoes. Go figure that I'd be a walking fashion disaster. But oh well.

I came out of the room adjusting my neck ribbon correctly. Out of nowhere, Break came up close and took the ribbon from my hands and tied it properly. I muttered a slight thanks under my breath as I placed my broche on the ribbon once he was finished.

"Can you even move in that?" he asked skeptical and held a cane that I hadn't seen him with before.

"Yeah, it's a lot better than my other clothes anyway despite how uncomfortable it looks," I answer him while tying my hair up in a ponytail. "So, where to now?" He motions for me to follow him and we end up outside. A garden where Sharon had moved her tea party to, it seemed.

He stopped and turned around to face me. "Let us begin," he pointed his cane at me making me jump a bit at the sudden movement. "Here's the game: you are to chase down and attack March Hare. Reim-san will summon him. You will have to land one attack."

"One?"

"Quiet, you rude brat!" Freaking doll from hell.

Seeing as I wasn't interrupting anymore, Break continued. "Only one. But you will have only ten minutes to do so. If you fail, there will be punishment to pay."

"Punishment?" I repeat a little scared at his implications. He only smirked before turning to face Reim.

"Show it to her." He quickly turned back to me, "This is what you'll be chasing for the next ten minutes."

Reim sighed one last time, most likely irritated still about being implicated in this game. Just then a gust of black wind came around him and materialized into a huge rabbit. Its eyes were closed and it had fur of an orange color. A dark cloak was over it and tied with a pinkish ribbon. A top hat with a bow of the same color was atop its head. It bounced a couple of times before disappearing in the same gust of wind. What an...energized bunny.

"Ten minutes," Break repeated taking his silver pocket watch out and glancing at the time. Raising his hand, he pointed at the clock tower at the center of the city that wasn't far off. "You have until twelve to accomplish the task."

Ten minutes, huh? It can't be that hard to scratch a silly rabbit.

"Lure that sneaky bastard out. You're time starts—" the hand of the clock moved into place. "Now."

Well, let's see. First of all I had to find out how the he-

"Ah!" I ate dirt just when something hit me from behind, pushing me forth. I turned just in time to see that stupid rabbit disappear.

"Stealthy, isn't he?" Break called out chuckling a bit. "He likes playing around."

"Stupid ass bu—" Yet again, it pushed me just when I got up. I tried reading it's patterns but it did that to me four more times before I got a rest from it. I glanced upward towards the clock tower to check. Eight minutes; I'd lost two minutes playing with it. I sensed it coming again to knock me down but before it could I jumped out off the way and grabbed onto a tree branch. Squatting on the branch, I looked and saw that I was down to seven minutes. Just then, it pushed me off but I hung onto the branch and attempted to kick him once going around. But he disappeared before I could catch him. My hands slipped off just as I was about to hit him and I fell down a distance to the ground.

Damn! My a-

"Five minutes!" Break announced loud and clear. The sarcastic tone couldn't be missed. I was really starting to hate the guy. But, more than that, I was really craving myself some rabbit stew right about now. Yeah, rabbit stew sounded nice.

Another shove caught be off guard making me almost fall forth face first to kiss the ground. I turned about only to catch the dust of the little runt. How fast could a little bastard be!? Then it hit me. Break said he wanted to test my powers. Chronos controls time. If he can then I can too.

I scurried about trying to figure something out while avoiding the little rat that followed me around. He tried pushing me once more but before he could I jumped and was about to land a kick on him before he disappeared.

Shit! I'll figure it out as I go. "Excelion!" I called out and felt the heaviness of the medallions on my palms. Once I grabbed them, the sash appeared behind me, dancing.

I had to do something with this thing. But what?

"Two minutes." I'm running out of time. Running out? That's it. If I'm running out of time all I need to do is stop it. I need to stop time but...is that possible?

**"For a brief period of seconds."**

Chronos!?

"How?!" I called out to him still avoiding the sneaky rabbit I had behind my tail.

**"Concentrate on the diameter that you want to stop. It's small but you should be able to do it. Just focus on it and it will stop for seconds. That should be more than enough."**

"One minute!"

I couldn't ask for any better chance. And I only had this one so I had to make it count. Halting my steps for the briefest of moments, I began to predict just where the rabbit would appear next. "Concentrate." My whisper came as nothing more than that as I stared intently at the place where I knew March would appear in. And just like I'd predicted out of his pattern, March Hare appeared some feet apart from me and...stopped. Completely.

"I did it!" I exclaimed under my breath but immediately noticed the ripples around it. Damn, I had to be quick about this. I rushed towards it and was about to wrap Excelion around it when my foot got caught on an uprooted tree root. Out of instinct, I placed my hands in front of my face and let go of Excelion.

Seconds later, my face struck the ground hard making me eat dirt. I sat up on all fours spitting out pieces of mud and grass and just then heard the resounding toll of the clock tower. "No..." I failed. With a sour mood, I sat on my legs while wiping the front of my shirt clean.

A faint shadow came over me making me glance upward to catch Sharon as she bent over slightly, giving me her hand amiably. I took her hand with pursed lips and dusted my shorts off as well.

"You did your best," she assured. Not good enough though.

"Actually..." Break trailed off. We waited patiently but after he didn't speak and only stared at us, I snapped.

"Just spill it already!"

He still didn't answer us but instead motioned his hand over to the side and behind him. My eyes landed upon Reim and March Hare, who was rubbing a small bump that protruded from his forehead. Reim simply sighed and giggled while patting it on the head as it sniffled.

"It's just a scratch, March." With that, the rabbit left us and disappeared in a swirl of black wind.

"How...?" my voice wondered off trying to answer the question that kept coming back to me. Could I have possibly...

"The medallions on your sash." Break came over to me and Sharon and placed his hands on my shoulders. "When you fell, which by the way was priceless—"

"Get to your damn point!" I snapped already pissed off enough at his taunts.

"The sash, along with the medallions, went flying and bumped onto the rat's head."

"Is that valid?" Sharon's voice sounded perplexed along with her brows knitted together in thought. Expectantly, we both glanced towards the clown only to have him shrug his shoulders.

"What I wanted wasn't to see if she could hit March Hare or not. What I wanted was to see if you could control those powers of Chronos'," he simply replied with his casual nonchalance that was just starting to drive me crazy.

Shaking my head and ignoring the emotions he provoked in me, I gleamed with a grand smile. "Did you see that too!? The time around March Hare, how it stopped?"

He nodded and gave me a grin while squeezing my shoulders a bit. "Indeed, I did. It was short but with your speed it was just enough."

"So, I passed?"

"Just by an accident! Don't get all fired up, you brat!" Emily blurted out.

"Damn you..."

"Well then, Claire." At Sharon's polite call, I turned away from Break and his annoying doll from hell.

"Lady Sharon?"

She raised a hand daintily stopping me in my tracks. "Please, just Sharon will do. After all, we all will be working towards the same objective from now on."

"Objective?"

My inquiry then was answered by Break but not before crossing his arms and placing his top half to lean on my head. I could almost kill him right here and now had Sharon not been here. His words, however, made me stop in my murderous intent. "To rescue young master Oz Vessalius from the Abyss, of course."

Oz...Vessalius?! "Wait, you mean—but I thought he died ten years ago?"

"That's what Pandora made the citizens think," Break explained while keeping his arms atop of me. "In actuality though, ten years ago in the young master's coming-of-age ceremony, he was dragged into the Abyss."

"And now," Sharon's dainty voice took me by surprise as she took over explaining to me. "When the times is right, we will retrieve him from the Abyss."

"With just us three?"

"Four, really," Break giggled while finally getting off of my head. "It will be you, Milady, myself, and Raven. Of course, his powers would be used only in the worst case scenario." Wait, Raven? But then, that means-

"But Raven's contractor is—You mean Master Gilbert is involved in this as well?" I cried out surprised.

"Indeed he is," Sharon assured me with a hand on me shoulder. "And now the four of us will save Oz-sama once the time comes to be. So addressing each other respectfully is out of the question. We are comrades in this now, Claire."

"Although Gilbert-kun does prefer to be called Raven outside of Pandora," Break chuckled while covering his grin with a sleeved hand.

"Why is Mas—I mean Gil—...Raven! Why's Raven interested in getting Oz Vessalius out of the Abyss?"

"Well, if you are so curious as to why I suggest you ask him yourself," Break perked up immediately and held up Emily to my face.

"Yeah, you big, nosy brat!" the doll added with a blurt of its annoying voice.

"What?!"

"You're actually in luck," Break assured me, putting Emily back on his shoulder. "Today was the last day we would be recruiting anymore newcomers."

"Well, yoo-hoo for me," I mumbled under my breath. I was caught off guard when Break pointed his cane right in front of my nose.

"However, don't think that you are getting off the hook that easily," Break smirked dazzling with malice. "You still need plenty of practice. And since time is of essence, I will personally be training you from now onwards."

I blinked once and then twice and again. Well, crap, this was going to be hard as hell.

* * *

The rain pounded harshly onto the window glass of the carriage. I leaned against the door's edge while watching the outside scenery as the carriage strolled casually towards the Nightray's main mansion. Heaving out a sigh, I tried not to worry too much of what was to come.

I had been gone all day and it was already the evening. Sharon told me that it'd be better for me to remain at the Rainsworth's quarters while I trained with Break so she sent me back to retrieve my belongings. That meant that I wouldn't be seeing those two as often as I used to; both Leo and Elliot and also the rest of the family, Vanessa and Madame Nightray.

But even with them in mind, I couldn't keep what Break had said to me out of my mind.

_"And how is this supposed to help me?"_

He'd poked at my forehead making me reach out and grab it instinctively. _"You will see soon enough. All this will benefit us all, one way or another." _

I groaned thinking that I couldn't possibly tell Elliot or Leo about this. No, if they knew, Break would most likely kill me if he knew I'd blabbered about their objective. I can't let them know. But then that means...letting them know about my whereabouts would be undesirable as well.

"Miss. We've arrived." I glanced out of the carriage's window and saw the mansion's entrance before us. I got out and thanked the driver, instructing him to wait for me while I got my belongings. As stealthily and quietly as I could, I trotted up towards my room and gently closed the door behind me.

I couldn't let anybody know where I was going. If they knew, questions surely would follow and those are the ones that should be avoided the most if I am to work alongside Break and Sharon. They would provide me with information about Chronos and with that would come clues of where Lacrimosa could be. That I needed.

Quicker than I've ever done, I packed a small amount of stuff that mattered to me. Among those were a couple of outfits, some that even Lady Vanessa had helped me pick out. Some books that Leo and Elliot had nagged at me to read as well, but I had never gotten around to do. And what few things that I've brought from the House of Fianna, including the book of _The Time of Night_. I was almost done when a few knocks came to the door. Damn, I was so close to booking out unnoticed too.

"Claire...?"

Damn. It's Vanessa; the one and only daughter of Madame Nightray. She acted tough and considering that she had lived most of her life with three older brothers and her younger one, I wasn't quite surprised. And although she loathed Leo with every fiber of her being, she had somehow and for some reason gotten attached to me. I never knew the reason but I never inquired it from her either. I appreciated her company just as much as she did mine. I suppose that for either of us not having another female figure our age drew us closer together. Which meant that I couldn't just blow her off and ignore her call. Specially when her voice sounded so strained and worried.

My steps were heavy as I headed towards the door and drew it open just enough to let myself be seen. "Yes, Lady Vanessa." But the instant I saw the solemn and anxious look on her face my feet were the least bit of my worries. Now all I could think of was what the hell was wrong with her. "Is something the matter?"

Her small eyes closed and she took a deep breath before saying her next words. "It's Gilbert. Somebody tried to kill him."

"What?!" I exclaimed. Immediately, I stepped out of my room and shut the door behind me. We where now standing by ourselves in the hallway.

She nodded with the anguish clear in her face. None of the legitimate siblings from the Duke recognized Gilbert and Vincent as part of their family. I'd seen that was specially true with Ernest and Claude. And although Vanessa tried riding coattails on that, she was too kind-hearted, alike Elliot, to ever truly hate someone without much reason. Then again, Leo was the clear exception to all her kindness. But now, her worry for Gilbert's assassination attempt was clear.

"Ernest and Claude are speaking with Father right now about halting the Headhunter once and for all," she explained to me. "Claire, I'm so glad you're here. Mother's been devastated about what happened before with Fred and Uncle. I have no one to talk to about this."

I nodded holding her to keep her on her feet. This attempted killings against the Nightray's had been recent. Ever since Gilbert contracted Raven, they started with Vanessa's oldest brother, Fred, and Madame's brother. Now they've even targeted Gilbert. Who knew who could be next on that blacklist. My brow furrowed just thinking about that and remembered something.

"Lady, where's the Young Master?"

"Elly?" she muttered under her breath. She just shook her head and glanced downward, "I haven't seen him since the incident this morning."

Bad. That's really bad.

If the rumor of the Headhunter attacking spread again and got to Elliot, then he would surely join any dumb crusade that his brothers would embark in. "Does he know about what Master Ernest and Mater Claude plan to do?"

"They told me specifically not to tell anything to him. Why are you asking all of a sudden?"

Yeah, if Elliot found out, he'd go without thinking it through. I have to make sure that doesn't happen. I gripped Vanessa's arms tightly and looked her in the eyes, "We can't let him know. If he knows, he'll surely go. Now, think, where was the last time you saw him?"

Vanessa was speechless, more than likely because of my sudden brusque manner of speaking. "Um, his room maybe? I don't know, when I went to look for him he wasn't there anymore."

I nodded and let go of her, "Please, Lady Vanessa, head to Madame's quarters. I'll go search for the Young Master and take him to you."

"Wait, Claire!" But I was already gone by the time she had called out my name. I ran past halls towards his room but it was empty. I figured, too easy of a spot. I turned to go and turned a couple more corners before seeing two figures up ahead.

"Master Claude! Master Ernest!" I called out making them turn towards me. There had been something on their faces, some kind of expression that I failed to see from far away and that faded after I called for them.

"Oh, it's you," Ernest replied when I finally caught up to them.

"Excuse me," I began catching my breath. "But have you seen the Young Master? Madame and Lady Vanessa are looking for him and sent me to fetch him." I knew it was a lie, but if they knew I'd been poking around in their family business, they'd be furious.

"Elly?" Ernest inquired tapping his chin. "Not since this morning, I haven't. Have you Claude?" Claude answered with a variant of that reply. "You say Vanessa and Mother are looking for him? Alright, if we see him we'll tell him." And with that they turned to go surely to head off for the Headhunter.

Damn, I had to try and stopped them. But it'd be imprudent of me to poke into their business. But I've been to one too many funerals in the past from some of the children's from the House dying of diseases. Elliot had buried one too many family members. That was horrible as it was. I wasn't going to just stand by and let him bury two more.

I gulped down my fright and opened my mouth. "I'm sorry to ask but are Masters Claude and Ernest going after the Headhunter?"

That stopped them in their tracks and made them stare at each other. Goodness, I was crossing a line that more than likely would get me kicked out as Elliot's valet but even so...

Ernest was the first to speak. "So you know," his voice was a bit feeble but I could sense some sort of sarcasm behind it. "I supposed you knew, you were here before when it happened to Fred and Uncle. But yes, we are."

"I know it is not my place to meddle but don't you suppose that it would be better for you to remain with your family?"

"You're right, that isn't your place," Ernest added with a bit of disdain.

Shit, bad wording. "I mean no offense, sir, I assure you. My reason for being so blunt is because I care about what happens to this family."

I do. I become attach to those I come close to. To those people I spend time with and whom I get to know. To me the world wasn't the whole that many thought it as. It wasn't the countless of faceless people living their lives. To me, the world was the people I knew and whom I spent my days with. They were my world and if anything were to happen to them, I would be devastated. I would lose a piece of my world.

"Do you now?" Ernest inquired to which I simply nodded. He scoffed and glanced back at Claude.

"I suppose I'm beginning to see what Elliot saw in you," Claude acknowledged with one of those odd smiles of his.

"I suppose you're right," Ernest agreed and both took a few steps closer to me. "You seem like a nice, level-headed girl. So would you do us a favor?"

"Anything." For them and for this family, to protect them, I'd do anything.

He gazed intently in my eyes and I saw the same blue eyes that Elliot had. "Take care of Elly, Vanessa, and Mother. You, at least, think for a change. You'll be helping us plenty with just that. Even if you're in Pandora now, take care of them." My heart literally dropped with dread. It was almost...as if they were saying they're farewells.

I couldn't do much after what they said except stand in awe as they began to head their way once more. But just then, the worst thing that could have gone wrong happened.

"Ernest? Claude?"

I spun on my heels with dread filling my heart with every second. My eyes widened at seeing Elliot standing just around the corner with his eyes just as wide and terrified. Had he heard what they said? Only when I turned had he noticed me there. "Claire?" he mumbled almost to himself.

I took a step forth trying to stop him and gently muttered his name but only to have him completely dismiss me and going right up to his brothers. I turned to watched the dreadful scene unfold. The brothers, too, came up close to their younger sibling, Ernest placed a hand upon his shoulder.

"Elly." He then ruffled his hair, just like he'd done so many times before and yet this one seemed so out of place. The hand traveled down to his cheek and remained. "You take our mother and run away."

"Ernest...?"

"We will definitely get rid of the Headhunter," Ernest assured him not even letting Elliot finish speaking his thoughts.

"Yes. Even at the cost of our own lives," Claude agreed and turned to leave. Damn, exactly what I was afraid of them saying in front of him. Ernest gave him one last loving smile and turned to follow after Claude.

God, it's almost like they're marching to their doom. And no matter how much I hated to admit it...they probably were.

"Claude..." Elliot mumbled. "Please...wait!" His voice finally rose above a whisper and became a bellow that resounded through the halls. So pained, and so sorrowful. And before he had the sufficient emotion to move him towards them, I launched at him and held onto his right arm tightly, bringing it close to me. "Let go of me Claire! Let go!" he yelled at me trying to pry my grip from his arm. But I couldn't let him go. Not to a fate that would mean his death.

They had entrusted me with their family's safety. I couldn't deny them that wish. I had to keep my promise to them. I would protect their family. I would stand here, not in their place, but for them. Even if that's all I could ever do, it would be what I'd do. Even if Elliot hates me for this later on.

To this very day...my heart still aches for what I let occur. It is such a heavy weight on my soul and my conscious. It hasn't let me live peacefully since then, this burden of letting them walk down their own downfall. And although I know in my head that I did what I had to, my heart still aches and weighs heavy with the sin I allowed to happen.

Ever since that day, I've known that a sin like mine...could never be forgiven.

* * *

_**Well that's that. So sad -w- **_

_**I really have nothing with this after note cx only that it's late and I haven't eaten and I'm hungry. So, instant noodles, here I come! **_

_**Thanks a lot for reading and hoped you liked it! Stayed tuned for the next chapter :D**_


	5. The Time Has Come

_**Chapter five... -w- As you can see progress is smooth and is going well. All I can say is that not many things have changed so far. Okay maybe some details here and there but besides that the plotline has been quite the same c: Hope that's good :)**_

_**-**__**Microtoa**__**: thanks for the lots of story fav and following! It really is brings my spirits up to see those xD**_

_**-**__**ScarlettNoir**__**: for the story alert of the other EoT c:**_

_**So now let's continue this** :**D**_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_**The Time Has Come**_

* * *

"This is it, Miss." The maid motioned me inside the vacant room in the Rainsworth's mansion. I gave her a curt nod and she took it as thanks and dismissed herself from the room. I closed the door and gave the room a once over. The moment I spotted the bed, I headed to it and plunged myself onto it. Grabbing the pillow, I cuddled it close to me and finally let the tears I had been holding flow out of me. That night had been the one and only time that I've ever known myself to cry so damn hard. I couldn't believe it.

I felt so horrible...I swore I would die.

* * *

After Claude and Ernest were gone, I finally felt safe to let go of Elliot. But apparently, he wasn't done with me. On the contrary, by the way he roughly grabbed me by the neck of my shirt and pinned me hard against the wall, he was barely getting started.

"Why!?" His rage was clear to me but the tears that were streaming uncontrollably down his face betrayed any and all semblance of anger from his expression. His sky blue eyes glazed over, I didn't see the short-tempered boy anymore. All I saw was a hurt boy who couldn't keep in his tears of utter agony. "Why did you do that?!" he bellowed right in my face, his grip tightening on my shirt.

I couldn't bring myself to answer and that only infuriated him more. His grip tightened further almost constricting me in my shirt. I placed my hand on his fists trying futilely to get him to let go. He'd never laid a hand on me. Ever.

And the Elliot now...he scared me.

The instant he let go of my shirt I thought I could finally breath an air of relief but was met instead with a heavy punch that was so near my left ear that it made me flinch and shut my eyes close.

"Why..." he groaned while his gaze stooped to the floor. "They're gone."

"Don't do this to yourself," I murmured quietly trying to soothe his pain as much as I could.

"Don't do what?" he growled his head snapping up to meet mine. "What do you expect me to do now?! Do what they told me?!

"It's not your fault. It was their decision," I assured him, surprised that my voice was even mildly as calm as I wanted it to be. Yet inside I had a qualm that wasn't ending but instead rising uncontrollably. "They wouldn't have changed their mind had we asked."

"You say it like they couldn't have," he growled deep in his throat like some kind of hurt animal. Wounded, scared, and more than likely to strike were he probed the wrong way. "They would have had I asked. If you'd only let me."

I didn't want him to delude himself into thinking that but I couldn't let those harsh words leave me. And instead all I could say was a pathetic apology. "I'm sorry." It was hard to speak now that the pain and sorrow was piling up in my throat. "I know what I did has no forgiveness. I don't expect yours in the least." Just then I noticed just how hard I was keeping my breath in. When had I stopped breathing? Maybe that's why my chest hurt so badly. At least partially why. My head was a terrible mess and hurt like hell too. And yet, I knew that no matter how bad I was hurting, his suffering was much worse. It made mine seem like a mere bruise.

He punched the wall again, this time brushing against my ear making me jump, terrified. And it wasn't until then that I noticed just how badly I had been shivering.

"Elliot!" Leo's shout came to my numb ears like a muffled noise. My head felt like it would burst. He yanked Elliot away from me and my body, having no other support, simply fell limp under my weight, driving me to my knees.

Vanessa's voice called my name but I barely heard it as her arms wrapped around me. She cooed to me assuring words, 'it's okay' and 'don't cry'. But by her sniffling and sobbing, I knew that those words were more directed to herself than to me. For one, because I wasn't even crying even when I wanted to. I couldn't help but feel her sorrow and pain with her mumbled words and cries. That only added to the grief I felt myself and the burden I carried only grew alongside it.

Resounding steps came closer to us and I heard Gilbert's deep voice call to me, "We need to leave." I pulled my face away from Vanessa's grip, loosening it.

"No, you can't taker her!" Elliot shouted getting away from Leo's hold. "I take back what I said!"

"You can't anymore," Gilbert replied keeping his calm and pulling me by my forearm away from Vanessa's grip. That was when I actually saw her crying face and that only made my stomach turn. How much more pain could my one, sole action cause the people that mattered most to me? "She's part of Pandora now."

I couldn't make myself glance at Elliot. He was still infuriated and it scared me. Vanessa's small voice came to be heard above the ruckus, "You're leaving?"

"I'm sorry. Really, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, " I cried out, shaking my head and having no explanation for her.

Elliot yanked his arm away from Leo and I swore I shrunk back frightened that he would come at me again like he did before. However, this time, he resorted to tongue lashing me.

"Of course you're sorry," he called furious. "That's all you ever do. Apologize and break promises." He jeered almost cynically, "No wonder you were left alone."

That felt like a heavy blow to my gut. It hurt so much, I caught my breath before yelling back. "That's not true!"

"Elliot, that's too far!" Leo bellowed.

"Elliot, compose yourself!" Gilbert reproached harshly.

"Don't you dare give into the big-brother act now! And you-" he spat out the word facing me. I swear, the venom in his words was tangible and it burned me deep, leaving a wound that would scar and remain there for longer than I knew. "Don't you ever dare show your face before me again."

* * *

Those words...they simply tore what was left of my heart and left me as I was now. Wounded, defeated, and utterly alone.

He broke his promise. He swore he wouldn't let that happen. He said he would never let me be alone again. And I believed him like the fool I was. No, maybe it wasn't the believing him that made me a fool. Probably what did was believing that I would be able to keep them by my side. Believing that I wouldn't somehow ruin this just like I ruined everything else.

How could he have said those words? How could I have caused them so much suffering? Maybe it was for the best...never going back there, just like he told me to.

A couple of soft knocks on the door and a curt 'May I?' made me snap up and wipe my tears hurriedly away from my face. Once I answered, Sharon came in strolling with her nightgown on.

That's right, we were supposed to have a meeting at ten to discuss about the mission. I glanced at the clock in the room; it was twelve already.

"The meeting's about to start," she simply said with a small smile. "Would you accompany to my room?" I nodded without a word and followed her to her room a few doors away. Once inside, she proceeded to close the door after I came in.

She motioned to her bed and made me sit down on the edge with her. I averted my eyes to anywhere but meeting hers, my hands carefully placed on my lap. Her small hands found mind and gripped them tightly, concerned. I had failed to notice till then that her room was empty.

"They'll be here shortly." Her sudden outburst made me jump a bit. Her tight-lipped smile came as he grip tighten reassuringly, "First, would you mind telling me what happened at the Nightray household? I understand if you don't but I've come to find that talking about our problems helps much more than keeping them hidden and out of sight."

I couldn't help but peek a glance at Sharon's face and I sure couldn't ignore the concern that was clearly visible in her face. I sighed and lowered my head while fidgeting around with my hair. It was a few minutes but I started talking in a hushed voice, "I did...something horrible to Elliot and Vanessa."

She gently placed a hand on my head and brought it down to her lap. I didn't complain much; I wasn't in the mood to anyway. I laid on her lap while she stroke my head with her hand. "Now, now," she whispered soothingly as she did so. "It'll be alright."

"No, it won't. They probably hate me now," I couldn't keep myself from muttering those words and having to bite my tongue to keep the tears from falling from my eyes. Crying by myself was one thing but I wouldn't degrade myself in front of others. "What I did to them...it's unforgivable."

"That's not true." Slightly raising my head, I glanced over towards the door and was surprised to see Gilbert and Break inside the room. Strange how neither of us heard them come in. "Elliot might be very pigheaded but I'm sure he didn't mean what he said and I'm sure he doesn't hate you either. Neither he nor Vanessa. As for Claude and Ernest, well, you couldn't have stopped them had you wanted to. They made up their mind and made a choice."

Break simply placed a sleeve-covered hand over his grin before speaking. "From what I've heard about the short-fused Nightray boy, I'm positive he must've lashed at you out of anger." He came over to us and sat on the edge of the bed. I slowly rose from my position on Sharon's lap and peeked up at Gilbert who stood along the wall.

"But taking his anger considering what I did, wasn't that the least I could have done for him?"

"A valet's purpose isn't to mindlessly follow their master, it's to teach them right from wrong. You're suppose to be taking care of him, not spoiling him," Gilbert corrected me. "He needs to learn not to take everything for granted. Otherwise, he'll miss it all the more once it's gone. What happened there tonight wasn't your fault. Not yours, not his, nor anybody else's."

"And talking about taking the fault, Gilbert-kun took a great risk going back to the Nightray Mansion for you," Break replied giving his side of the conversation.

"Because you left..." Just then I remembered what Vanessa had told me. "Are you alright? You barely escaped being poisoned."

He waved my concern away with his hand and a small smile, "I'm fine. The damage wasn't all that bad."

"Gentlemen," Sharon called our attention although she completely dismissed my presence at calling us. "We can talk about this matter some other day. But us, ladies, need our rest so the sooner this meeting is over with, the better." She placed her hand gently on my arm making me turn to face her directly. With a kind smile she whispered to me, "And if you ever need to talk about anything, not just this, you can come to me anytime." I smiled in gratitude and nodded.

Break chuckled and jumped off the bed, heading for the table in the room. Gilbert hung his head low, attentive. That's right, the meeting.

Break, getting a cake and some tea from goodness knows where, began the conversation. "The time is approaching. We must be ready for when it comes," he explained as he pour himself a cup. "Once everything is set, we'll rescue Oz-kun from his abominable state of affairs."

"What do I have to do in this?" I immediately ask him making him turn to me.

He grinned and pointed at me with his fork that he'd manifested out of his sleeve. "You, dearie, will be useless when we try getting our way in there. Your Chain does have some nice power that could allow us to maintain a steady, frozen connection to the Abyss while Milady and Gilbert-kun retrieve Oz-kun. And since it requires less stamina, it could be quite useful for some of our purposes. Unfortunately, Chronos isn't that strong of a Chain. At least not in your hands as you are now. So for the time being, while I train you, you'll remain hidden away in the margins. Meaning no showcasing~."

"I'm not you, you dumbass clown!" I grunt and blow him a raspberry. He simply chuckles some more. I walk over to where he is and sit across from him. I pout and ask him, "But why can't I though?" Has he any idea how handy time stopping would be for me?

"Despite what Break said-" Gilbert intervened while lighting a cigarette and blowing out a cloud. "Chronos has some power to it. It's one strong Chain compared to many of the ones in Pandora. The more you learn to use it and the more developed its power gets, the more powerful it will become. The more powerful it is, the more targetable you'll be. Chains seek power and killing a Chain like Chronos could give them a lot of that. All you'll be is an easy bait for them to catch if you don't watch yourself."

"In other words," Break interrupted, clapping his hands together. Something that pops from his sleeve catches my attention and before I can ask what it was, he popped the lollipop into my mouth. I was about to rage out at him but tasted the candy better. Mm, strawberry. "You need to lay low and keep your mouth shut while we tell you the plan. We'll have enough time for any question you may have later. According to our calculations, we have more or less a year to fully prepare," he explained and got another lollipop from his bag. Blue...blueberry? Or possibly grape, it did have a purplish hue to it too. "We have to arrange out assets before that. So far it is only us four. Milady has Eques. Gilbert-kun has Raven. You have Chronos. I have my Mad Hatter. However, brawn alone won't get us anywhere."

"Of course it won't," I put in while taking out the lollipop, half eaten. "Power means nothing if you can't strategize with it."

"Exactly," he punctuated, biting and breaking the lollipop in his mouth. He quickly ate it as he continued to speak, "What I had in mind was to separate into two different groups to approach two different targets. Both you and Gilbert-kun will go around parading on missions. Milady and I will do the work on the inside of the Four Dukedoms. That would be the first set. The second would consist of Gilbert-kun and I maneuvering through Pandora itself and, technically speaking, we would also have Reim-san for that work. You and Milady, on the other hand, will be great for infiltration that needs to be done off the radar."

"That sounds fantastic," Sharon complimented with a smile. "It should cover all the basis."

"Not all," Gilbert intervened catching my attention. He glanced my way and motioned to me with his cigarette between his fingers. "There's still the matter of Duke Nightray using Claire as his informant."

"I won't do it." Instantly, I saw a flash of surprise on both Sharon's and Gilbert's faces. I simply smiled their way. "I won't answer to him. He's a cold bastard; no amount of status as one of the four Dukes changes that fact." He let his sons walk right out to their death. I never appreciated him as a person but I still kept some respect towards him for being Elliot's father. But after what happened, even that smidgen was wiped away.

I'll keep my promise though. I'll protect them, Elliot, Leo, Vanessa, and Madame. Cost be damned.

"Well now that is that," Break called with a sigh as he raised from his sit.

"Are you aware of what that means?" Gilbert asked me, and quite frankly surprised me since his voice sounded concerned. "Because of this...you'll be betraying the Nightrays'."

"I wouldn't do that," I answer him with utter confidence. "I will never betray them. Not even if they believe I did, I could never betray them. They've come to mean too much for me to ever do such a thing."

Come to mean _way_ too much... With that swaying thought, I remembered something. "Raven-"

"Gil." His sudden burst made me glance up in surprise. "When it's just the four of us, it's just Gil."

I nod in response and put on a smile. It's going to be hard to get used to this. In one day he went from being a Master to Raven to Gilbert and now definitively to Gil. Yeah, it's going to need some time to get used to. "Gil, if it's not too intrusive of me, may I know what your connection to Oz Vessalius is? Break mentioned something about it but never answered anything. He said better to ask you."

"Oh that..." he sullenly replied and heaved out a long, tired sigh. "Well..." And he told me everything, or at least a condensed version as he called it. Of how he came to be the valet of Oz Vessalius. Of how on the night of the coming-of-age ceremony, the boy was thrown into the Abyss. And of how he came to be the adoptive son of the Nightray's. No wonder he left the Nightray household. All he's been fighting for is for the sake of one boy whom his adoptive family couldn't care less for.

"Quite a story," I muttered once he was done.

"What about you?" I raised my head at his sudden question. "Do you...have any story to tell?"

I chuckled at how ironic that sounded. A story? Yeah, I have one but not the one I'd prefer to have. "If you want to call it that. Like you, I have no recollection of the first eight years of my life. I've lived in the House of Fiana since I know of and well, you know the story of how I came to be Elliot's valet. Nothing knew there for you. I'm looking though, my memories are out there, somewhere, and with someone. Luckily, I have this broche and the picture in it to guide me. It's not much but..."

"It's something," Gilbert said understandingly and put his cigarette out. "We should wrap it up for now. It's getting late and I still need to go home."

"Yeah," I agreed getting up and turning to Sharon. "You must be exhausted since we've kept you up for so long." She rebuffs my statement with a smile and wave of her hand.

Break grabs me by the shoulders and starts walking me out of the room. "Well then, we'll take our leave. Have a good night, Milady."

"Oh, goodnight Sharon!" I call before he pushes me out.

"Goodnight everyone," she mutters tiredly and goes on to rest while Break closes the door behind us. I turn to Gilbert as he starts to leave, "Have a safe trip, Gil. And goodnight."

He turned to me and smiled, "Thanks and 'night."

Yeah, I could tell that he's friendship was something I'll gladly take. I sighed tired with the events of the day and start heading for me room.

"Remember-" Break's words take me by surprise as I glanced over my shoulder to look at him. "You're training with me starts tomorrow. Better prepare yourself, kid."

"Those are my lines," I quirk with a grin on my face.

He grinned mischievously making a chill run down my spine. "We'll see about that. I bid you _adieu_ and _bonsoir_."

And so began my year in this whole mess I got myself into. Back then, I was fourteen and had a lot to take in.

Now...a whole year has passed since then.

In that year, my training with Break was...well nothing short from barbaric. I have to admit, though, despite his sadistic training sessions, he was quite the teacher. I learned so much under his tutelage and in six short months I had assimilated all that he knew and had researched about Chronos and his powers. By then end of that, I was completely a master at what Chronos had to offer to me as my Chain.

In that year, I also cut off all contact with the Nightray Family. Thanks to Break and his hook ups I managed to erase my existence from the face of the earth. And from what Break and Gilbert told me, Duke Nightray was royally pissed that I refused to answer his beck and call. In a few months, he assumed I had bailed on him. Funny how I thought he'd catch the drift much sooner.

As for the rest of the family, well, Vanessa somehow knew about my stay at the Rainsworth's and would send letters addressed to me. And although Sharon would pass them to me and I did read them, I never answered any of them. Soon after though I moved out and got a place of my own like Gil and the letters soon came to a stop.

Elliot and Leo...well, I haven't heard anything from them since the day I left. I wasn't that surprised either after what I was told. Elliot surely wouldn't allow Leo to search for me either. When the Young Master got mad, he got royally pissed off. Guess he is his father's son, huh. But then again, he's not my Young Master anymore, at least he hasn't been for a long time.

And yet here I am. Still lurking in the shadows and looking after them from where I am. I've kept my promise. I've taken care of them. It hurts a bit to have to do it so far away from them but I know that it's for the best. The more I keep them away from this the better. I had to do what I had to.

Besides, I have the reprieve of knowing that once I finish with this mission, I'll finally be able to come out in the open again and find them. Until then I had to wait till we started the mission to retrieve Oz Vessalius from the Abyss. Until then I had to hide in the shadows and watch.

And then...the day finally came.

* * *

_**Really not that much to say as an after note but that I'm sorry this took so long -w- I've been catching up with my DH Series reading. I just finished **_**Styxx**** _and no lie, I wept like a baby ;w; that book was beautiful, and dare I say better than _Acheron_.__And even though I'm still reading cuz I want to catch up with Chronicles of Nick, I'll still be writing for this one c:_**


	6. My First Clue: A Boy Named Oz

_**Well, this is going rather nice. Six chapters in and I'm half way writing the outline of the story. I'm on chapter 24 on the outline and on chapter six on this one -w- First time I'm doing an actual outline and following it tit by tat. Hopefully it helps some c: **_

_**-**__**itachilover17**__**: Thanks for the story follow and fav and all the rest of the favs :3 I really appreacite them. **_

_**Now let's get to this once again**_

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**_My First Clue: A Boy Named Oz_**

* * *

I quickly ran through the empty city streets trying hard to find the group that I had been sent to. The streets were already damped with the pouring rain that had started just a few minutes ago and it wasn't helping me track the group.

"Have you any idea where they could be?" I yell out to Chronos from above the pounding drops.

**"Not a clue, kid. But the supervisor did say they were near the-"**

A sudden explosion took my attention from the conversation and made me turn towards the eastern part of the town. That way was where...

"The cemetery..."

**"That's it. That's where they should be."**

Not taking any time to think about it, I head over and reach just in time to see the grand crocodile that kept snapping it's jaw at the Pandora agents that were present at the scene. They weren't many either, maybe that croc took some of them out.

"We won't be able to hold him much longer!" one cried just as I was approaching the group.

"Where's the damn back up!?" this one cursed under his breath after speaking. Well, how rude.

"Present!" I call out raising my hand and appearing amongst the group.

"M-Miss Chronos!?" the one that had cursed earlier exclaimed surprised. "It was you they sent?"

"What can I say, I was close by and accepted," I shrug with a grin on my face. Turning around, I take a good look at the Chain that was a croc look-alike. "Is it that one?"

"Y-Yes, it's the Chain that's been rampaging this town."

"Got it," I reply and extend out my hands. In my mind I call out Excelion's name and like always the medallions fall fittingly in my palms and I hear the swishing of the sash behind me. "Come on, lil' croc. Let's play."

Out of nowhere it charged at me but I avoided it by jumping out of its way. Before I can though, its claws get tangled into my hair, which I forgot to put up. It throws me quite a distance into a tree. I can't believe it caught me off guard like that. Before it can head towards me again, I jump out of its way and quickly wrap the sash around its neck before landing on its back. As hard as I could, I pulled the medallions reining the Chain back. Once I had it up as tall as it would go, I muttered a faint name under my breath.

"Legion." At my beck, a single boar spear appeared on my hand. It was of red-colored bamboo and the blade was made of the same Orichalcum as Excelion. I could even feel the etched number on the neck connecting the blade and pole; the letters _VII_. Lunging it beneath the crocodile made a hoard of spears spring from underneath it. Letting Excelion disappear, I let it fall onto his doom. In mere seconds, he writhed in pain as the spears lodge into its body. Soon, a dark hole appeared beneath it as it sunk back into the Abyss.

Sighing, I wave my hand to make the spears disappear. I spin a bit as my wet hair comes into view. That asshole! He took a good chunk of my hair! I grab the longer length and see how dismantled it got from that clawing. I'm going to cry!

"Miss Chronos?"

I groan knowing I'll have to cut my hair before turning to face the agent that called to me. "Is everybody all right here?"

"Yes, there were only some injured but that's about it. We'll inform Pandora about what happened."

"As always, keep me out of it. As far as you know, you guys get commemorated for the work," I reply with a grin on my face and turn to leave.

The carriage that brought me here wasn't far, thank goodness for that. Just as I get there, I call to the coachman, "To Reveille, please." He nods my way and lets me in before leaving back. It didn't take much and by then the rain had stopped too.

Once we began approaching the market place, I called for the coachman to halt the carriage.

"Miss?" his voiced sounded confused. Of course he was, we were heading straight home.

"I'll take it from here. Thanks again for giving me a ride," I thank him and he answers with a curt nod before leaving me behind and heading back to the Rainsworth's. I stretched myself out and glance around at the crowd that still goes around midday. Without a moment's delay, I begin heading towards the hairdresser's.

* * *

"Thanks." I hand the money for the groceries to the tender of the stand and start heading home.

On my way there, Theodore, the owner of the local bakery, comes out of his shop and greets me.

"Ah, Claire, home from work already?" he asked as he cleans the outside windows of his shop.

"Yeah, pretty much," I reply while carrying the bag of food.

"You're such a good girl," he complimented. Sure, feed my ego why not. It feels nice. "Tell Belle I can fix that oven of hers now. It'd be good to have another gathering at Gina's and have ourselves some of those famous apple turnovers huh?"

Laughing, I nod at his comment. "Sure would, Mr. Theodore. I'll be sure to remind her about that." I give him a quick wave before heading home again.

Once before the door, I slowly and quietly opened the door and close it behind me. I'm sure that Mrs. Belle is taking her afternoon nap or something.

"Ah!" I withdraw my hand quickly when Mrs. Belle's cane hit my hand on the doorknob. "Mrs. Belle!"

"You're late!" she exclaims as she takes the groceries from me while I tend to my throbbing hand. How did she even hear me come in?! She's deaf from one ear!

"Mrs. Belle, I told you I had work to do today. Besides, my hair got ruined so I had to get it cut." At reminding myself of that, I reach out for my hair that now barely reaches my shoulder blades. It had grown so much too, I hadn't cut it since the House of Fianna. Oh well, I suppose it was meant to happen sooner or later. My style of clothing had changed much too since a year ago. Back then I used to wear skirts and nice blouses of pretty colors. Now, I think Gil's dress code stuck to me. At least the color palette. My casual attire now mostly consisted of dark, fitted pants tucked into heeled-boots. Besides that I wore any type of whites shirts with a vest or corset over it. What can I say, Sharon's girly tendencies sort of stuck to me more than I like to admit as well. Not much but just enough. Over all, I usually wore a cloak that helped hide me well.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot," Mrs. Belle sudden outburst took my attention from putting the groceries away. "This arrived for you in the morning, _ma belle_."

She handed me a sealed letter. I turned it about and saw the seal of the Rainsworth's on the wax seal. "Thanks, Mrs. Belle."

"Is it from work, dearie?"

"Um...yes, but do you know from which one?" The reason I still ask this after the six months we've lived together is because she has this ailment that depletes her memory, long and short sometimes. About a third of the time she thinks I work in a flower shop, the other third she thinks I work with Mr. Theodore at his bakery. It's that rare one third left that she actually remembers that I work for Pandora. However I wouldn't expect her to want to remember where I do work at. Her husband used to be an agent of Pandora as well. Quite the irony that I'm living here too. Sadly, he passed away during a mission which caused Mrs. Belle to break down. She has depressive mood swings that happen sometimes but now that she takes medicine she doesn't get them so often. She's becoming happier and happier by the day. That was good. Today, actually, she was going to have a tea party with her friends. And I'm helping too, so I actually planned on finishing my work early for that.

"Then go ahead and open it!" she chirped right up. "It could be from that nice young man. What was his name again? Ah, yes, Xerxes."

Yeah, right. Nice is the last thing I would ever describe him as. Obnoxious and creepy would fall under much more appropriately in my opinion. Letting those thoughts leave my mind, I opened the letter.

_Dear Claire,_  
_How have you been? It has been awfully quiet here without you and Gilbert. Even Break tends to go into boredom, or so he says. But that's a discussion for when we see each other. The time has finally come. Us three, Break, Gilbert, and I will be retrieving Oz-sama tomorrow in an old abandoned church. _  
_The post you will have to fill will be to be in the Rainsworth mansion while we come back. Pandora has been on a very tight coil since some time and it'll be hard to go without being noticed. You will be there to inform any agent that presents themselves that we are on task. I'll send a carriage for you early tomorrow, before five. After tomorrow our real mission will begin. _

_I thank you again for the amazing job you have done for the past year. However, it will only get harder from here on out. Be prepared._

_Sincerely,_  
_Sharon Rainsworth_

I'm a decoy then? Okay, I can deal with that but waking up before freaking five is insane. I heave a sigh letting out my frustration before tearing up the letter.

"What was it, dearie?" Mrs. Belle inquired.

Giving her a calm smile, I answer her question. "Work, Mrs. Belle. They want me to show up tomorrow before five."

"In the morn? Well aren't they pushy," she huffed in anger. Mrs. Belle is a great lady, specially because she gets mad about simply stuff. "Well, in that case. You should go to sleep early tonight."

"But Mrs. Belle—"

"Don't argue with me_ cher_!" she raised her voice all the same raising her cane menacingly towards me, instinctively making me raise both my hands in surrender. She lowered it and gave me a big smile. "You're doing your job, _ma petite._ I'm proud of you for keeping us safe. I'm sure Thomas would have been proud too."

Thomas...her husband. I couldn't help but return her smile. She actually remembered.

"I'll make tea then," I remarked with a purse of my lips. "Then I'll go to sleep for tomorrow." She gave me a curt nod before I left for the kitchen. After making tea for them, I went to my room, changed into something more comfortable, and plunged into my bed.

Tomorrow, huh? After all these long years, I'll finally have something interesting to do. Something that might actually guide me to where I need to go to get my memories back.

Tomorrow...

* * *

_"Have you been having those...dreams again?"_

"Not dreams...Premonitions." The Baskerville boy sat once again against the broken pillar, lifting his head a bit from its place after she had spoken in his head. He was trying to rest his eyes, he hadn't slept for over a week. At least not fully. Not like he intended to in the least, either. "The paths keep showing themselves. Do you think she has been able to see them too?"

_"Even if she could, she is not conscious of the writings themselves; she wouldn't understand their meaning. And even if she was conscious of them, I doubt that Chronos has taught her how to read them. It would be too cruel to tell her that when she doesn't remember in the first place."_

"I suppose ignorance _is_ bliss," he commented laying his head back.

_"Was it...the same path that you saw?"_

He let out a heavy sigh before answering, "It was the same date and time but...it wasn't the same path. It's always the same time but never the same way or place."

_"Your connection to the writings still holds strong, even after so long. Are you certain about continuing this route? You already know the ultimate outcome. Why try changing it?"_

"I have to," he deadpanned surprising her. "I won't let it happen. Any of them. Each and every one of them, I'll find a way around all. I'll change the writings."

_"I've told you before...that's impossible. No one has—"_

"They haven't tried hard enough."

He heard her heave a sigh in his head. She surely was frustrated with his stubbornness now. _"If that is what you wish...then I will follow and guide you the best I can,_ mio Dominio_."_

"That's all I wanted to hear."

* * *

"…"

I couldn't shake the buzzing in my ear. Damn, I want to sleep.

"..._elle_..."

"Five more minutes."

"Wake up, _ma belle!_" I jumped back with the yell and heard my head hit the headrest.

"Mrs. Belle! Really?!" I hissed trying to control my anger that sprouted out of being woken up so damn early.

"Yes, really," she answered with her cane dangerously close to my face. "You need to get ready, _ma petite._ Or else you'll be late for work."

Sitting on my bed, I listened before I started to drift away to sleep again. This caught her attention making her snap her cane on my feet. "Ow!"

"Shower, dearie. Now or I'll come back with this." And with that she left me to wager whether her threat was good enough for me to go shower. Truthfully, sleep sounded worth the cane beat up. I sighed and rubbed my face before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, I was ready with my pants, boots, a long sleeve white shirt and a dark blue underbust corset that accentuated my breasts, or the lack there of. I swear, I must have skipped some serious meals in my childhood to be so damn underdeveloped now. Picking up my hair into a small, messy bun, I trotted downstairs and met up with Mrs. Belle in the kitchen. After eating the breakfast she had made for me, I stood up ready to leave.

She stood at the entrance before I got there and held my cloak. It was something she always did to send me away. It was what she would do with Thomas or so she told me. It assured her that I would come back.

She placed the cloak around my shoulders and brushed away a couple of stray strands from my face. I couldn't bring myself to tell her that I could possibly not be coming back as often as usual after this. But I had to, after all she'd done for me, I owed her that much.

"Mrs. Belle, I have something to tell," I mutter under my breath.

"What is it?"

"I'm not really sure how long this job will last. And I don't think it'll be like all the others when I come home very early some other day."

"Don't worry, I'll be here waiting. Your room will be spotless for when you return." It was almost like she wasn't listening to me.

"No, Mrs. Belle. That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you. I might no—"

"Don't you worry," she reassured patting my cheek affectionately. "You'll be back. And when you do, we'll all be waiting for you here. I'll even have some of my apple turnovers you love you so much."

Such hope... It brought a smile to my face. Her words didn't allow me to think so negatively of the future. So instead, I gave her a smile back.

"Well, I'll be leaving now," I announce to her just as I was about to leave but I'm stopped by her. Turning towards her, I fine it odd that she stands there with a thin smile on her face and her hands behind her back. "Mrs. Belle?"

"There's something I've been meaning to give you, _ma belle,_" she confessed and brought her hands out from behind herself. In her tiny, wrinkled hands she held a sheathed dagger. "Take it."

Gulping away the lump on my throat, I shook my head slightly. "Mrs. Belle I couldn't—"

She clicked her tongue at me and took my hand forcefully and placed the dagger onto it. "It's my gift for you and you won't blow it off." I stare at her for a bit before glancing down at the dagger in my hands. I unsheathed it and examined the blade that was but a quarter shorter than my forearm. It was a nice blade and dagger overall. It seemed that it had been taken care of greatly. "It was Thomas'." At this, my eyes widened and I was left speechless. "He would have wanted for you to have it. It always protected him and I'm sure it will keep you safe as well."

I gave her an earnest smile before strapping the sheath onto my belt. "Thanks, Mrs. Belle. I'll keep it with me always." This seemed to calm her and with that she waited with me outside for the carriage.

It wasn't until some good twenty minutes later that the carriage arrived and took me away. The sun wasn't even out by the time I arrived at the Rainsworth's mansion. At getting out, I yawned and stretched out. No one was outside to meet me, not a big surprise there, except for a maid that greeted me at the front doors.

She guided me through the darkened halls of the grand manor. The place was still quite grand since the last time I saw it and that was a good six months ago. Ever since I finished my training with Break and moved out, I hadn't set foot on this mansion. Even now the sight of these sort of places was overwhelming.

She gave a curt nod my way as she motioned the double doors before us. I thanked her and with that she left. At entering the doors, I saw the same scene that I had seen for over six months. Sharon and Break were sitting at a table, drinking tea and eating sweets. Although the sweets part was mostly Break. As for Gilbert, he stood aside near the opened balcony door while having a smoke.

"Good evening, Miss Chronos," Break chirped right up while swaying his legs about. "Or should I say good morning?"

"Very funny," I reply through gritted teeth. Coming up close to the sofa across from the table, I laid lazily there as I stared back at them. "So, what's the plan going to be?"

"You'll be here, in case any agent or servant comes along asking for any of us," Gilbert explained once he put out his cigarette.

"You are simply our decoy while we're gone," Break cooed trying to sound all funny.

"Don't mind him Claire," Sharon added as she sipped her tea. I stared at her languidly and yawned once more out of my tiredness. "But, in essence, you will remain here and warn off unwanted visitors."

"Sure thing, boss." I raise my hand calmly, "But it's not like someone's going to barge in so early in the morning anyway."

She gave a dainty chuckle and nodded my way. "True but, nonetheless, we must be cautious on every angle." I replied with a small nod and affirmation before they began standing up.

Gil stopped a few steps away from me and patted my head. "Be careful. And don't worry about us. We'll be back soon and you will get to meet Oz."

"Can't wait for that," I answer a bit sarcastically but he ignored it and simply gave me a thin smile.

"So with this—" Break interrupted as they began to exit the parlor. He peeked into his magic candy bag and pulled out a box of candies and passed it to me. "We bid you farewell. Until we come back."

I nod and bid them a safe trip and just lie down on the couch. The quietness was overwhelming in this grand manor. It was calming and it was nice.

Before I had the pleasure of dozing off, a few knocks came to the door.

"What the..." I pronounce under my breath turning over to see the door. It took a couple of seconds before another set of knocks came to the door. I came over and opened the door to the parlor just enough to let myself be seen. On the other side stood Reim who simply raised his glasses on his nose.

"Have Xerxes and the others left already?" He knew? Well, if he did, I didn't have a reason to lie to him. Coming out of the parlor, we stood in the hallway while I explained to him that they had left some minutes ago. He nods once and sighs once last time. "Seriously, leaving you to this. I could have simply taken the shift had they asked."

"But..." I hated being mean but, in this case, I was being more blunt than mean. "Reim-san isn't a very good liar." His breath hitched as if insulted but he sighed and started cleaning his glasses.

"O-O-Of course I am!" he countered but his stuttering and uneven voice gave him away. I sighed and gave him a modest nod which only made him sink low. Damn, poor guy. How much stress can one man handle?

"Don't worry, Reim-san. I'm sure if we ever need of your assistance, Break will be on your trail before you can imagine," I assure him with a small smile.

"True," he answered, followed by another sigh. "But they shouldn't have left you here so early. If you want, I could relieve you of your post and take you to your designated room for you to rest. Nobody's here at the moment so who would come asking around?"

I tapped my chin twice with my finger. He had a good point. I shrugged my shoulders and gave him a smile, "Alright. I'll take you up to your offer. If anybody asks, they went out on an excursion for some shopping with Sharon." He agreed with my suggestions and took me along the halls to the empty room that would be mine for the extent of this 'mission'.

I opened the door and took in the surroundings. A nice, canopy bed stood to the right with two night stands while a wardrobe stood blatantly to the left across from it. The bathroom door was right next to the wardrobe to the left and a desk to its right. The balcony door was right across the entrance and with a closed door and covered by drapes. All in all, it wasn't half bad. Better than any room I've had so far, that's for sure.

"So, this is mine?" I inquired one last time, turning to Reim.

"As stated by Lady Sharon, yes. This officially belongs to you from now on," he said with a smile. "So, I'll take my leave now, Miss Claire."

I bowed slightly out of curtsey and watched as he left before closing the door. Taking most of my heavy clothing off, I finally got to a bare minimum before getting my hands on the dagger. It took me a while to unstrap it but when I did, I placed it on the night stand that was to the left of the bed along with my broche before throwing myself upon the bed.

Last time I had slept in something remotely nice was at the Nightrays'. And those days have been long gone too. I heaved out a sigh before I started counting sheep or something. Anything to keep my mind out of that. Soon enough, my mind was filled with nothing and everything making it drift off slowly to sleep.

* * *

_**So, its not that much really but it's a little changed. It's going at a moderate pace so I'm glad about that. The ones that are gonna be much longer chapters will be the ones I actually have to change from top to bottom and that starts sometime soon cx I promise that.**_

_**So, how was it? :3 Hope you guys liked it and stay tuned for the next chapter ;D**_


	7. Alice & the Pocket Watch

_**Soooooo...~~~~**_

_**I'm up to date with the story outline. I have up to chapter 42 and I'm working with the rest of the story as of date xD **_

_**Now for the thank yous :D**_

_**-**__**Tris PhantomEvans**__**: Haha, about that. I haven't read Order of the Phoenix in such a long time -w- I shoud reread it. But that's not where I got that from, though. Just saying :3 And thanks about the review and the story follow xD I love reviews cuz their critical to how I write things c: they help me fix mistakes or tell me I'm doing good with what I've got so far -w- so I love them :D**_

_**-**__**Penelope Jadewing**__**: First of, nice name ;) and second, thanks for follow and favorite~!**_

_**-**__**DreamingInThePast**__**: Thanks lots for the following :D I love those cuz it shows that you're interesting in reading whatever comes up next x3**_

_**-**__**Otaku2448**__**: Thanks so much for the favorite :D**_

_**No lie, this so far has been the most feedback I've gotten in this rewrite. This makes me know that I'm doing good and that people want me to continue c: that makes me happy :D **_

_**Now let us continue with this journey ;'3**_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

_**Alice & the Pocket** **Watch**_

* * *

My eyes fluttered a bit as I began to wake up. But, to my surprise, I wasn't at the Rainsworth's mansion. No, this place wasn't anywhere I could remember. The room was circular, the walls made of stone. A single window was to my left with a small arc that seemed to overlook a grand forestation and was draped in colorful fuchsia curtains.

The room itself was pretty empty from what I could see. There was a desk and a couple of book shelves. A small table close to the shelves with a couple of ornamented chairs. A lonely couch sat on the middle upholstered a dark crimson. What shocked me as I glanced at the couch were the dark shadows that sat and stood before it.

Some sudden shuffling caught my attention and made me turn around towards what seemed to be the exit to the room, draped in dark crimson drapes.

There a little girl stood, immobile. Dark, almost ebony hair was styled up in a small ponytail and she was dressed in a pretty sky blue dress. Her face, for some reason, was obscured to my sight. I couldn't see her and I couldn't recognize who she was and if I even knew.

Suddenly, from her face, tears started to roll down her cheeks and her lips started quivering. I tried reaching out towards her in comfort but before I could her tiny voice came out as a soft echo reverberating through the stone walls.

**"Why are you not telling me anything?"**

Her tiny voice sounded broken and I couldn't make out where I had heard it. But the distress and pain that I heard from her damaged voice was writhing me in my own pain. From the corner of my eyes, I saw one of the shadows from before coming closer to face the little girl.

**"You're all I have left! None of them could ever replace you!"**

Without thinking, I grabbed my own chest when I began to feel a strange pain. Something was aching like never before. It was awful. The little girl's voice grew louder to counter whatever the shadow before her was saying.

**"You've left me alone..."**

The atmosphere came to a sudden change when her quivering lips took a firmer grimace. It felt forced, as if she were trying to make herself shout out her next words.

**"You abandoned me to become stronger! Now tell me... Where has that power gotten you?!"**

The whole room was instantly engulfed in red flames. The heat made me automatically bring my arms up to guard my face from the flames. A horrid stench caught my nostrils almost making me vomit. At bringing my arms down, I couldn't help but gape at the changed scenery before me. A building was being engulfed in those embers; the walls and curtains and furniture were being eaten away by those flames. The foulness I had smelled was from the dead bodies that laid about everywhere. The smell of burning flesh was making me choke as I began to find it hard to breath. Instantly, I brought my hands to my mouth to keep the retch that was threatening to come out. But at doing that, I felt the warm, sticky liquid that came in contact with my face when both touched. I brought my hands to my view and noticed the crimson blood that drenched them. Glancing down at me, the same liquid coated my everything: clothes, hair, skin.

What in the world...has happened here...?

"...air...?"

This blood...these dead bodies...

"...Claire...?"

Did I...kill them...?

I couldn't keep the shriek that came out of my lips the moment I woke up. As my sight became less blurry, I could finally focus on who was before me.

"B-Break?" My voice was weak and shaky.

"Finally awake I presume," he answered with a covered hand upon his mouth. "By your violent thrashing and cries, it sounded like you were having a very nasty dream."

Dream...? No, whatever that had been was far from a dream. Surely a nightmare. I shook my dread away before sitting at the edge of my bed.

"What time is it?"

"It's becoming evening already. You have been asleep and blowing off your job for most of the morning, Miss Claire," he chuckled, making me pout a bit.

"I didn't blow it off," I countered as I began to put on my coat and boots. Soon enough I came out with Break into the hallways as he guided me towards a different vacant room. "Reim-san offered to let me rest and take my place. I didn't see much wrong with that."

"Well, we're done with what we sought out to do." With that said, he opened the doors to the parlor. Inside I could see Sharon, quickly starting to doze off, on a couch near the tea table while Gilbert was sitting down at the edge of a bed. "And it's here," he whispered as he went on ahead to sit next to Sharon.

"Are you all right, Claire?" Sharon's soft voice came to me. "You seem a tad bit pale."

"I'm fine, Sharon," I assured her. At seeing Gilbert, I ran up to him calling out his name. But at noticing my voice was too loud, he picked his finger to his lips and quietly shushed me. I covered my mouth with my hands as I approached the bed.

He turned his head to whomever was laying there. At this, I did the same and came to notice, for the first, the young boy that slept on the small bed.

At closer inspection, I could see he was quite young. Perhaps my age from what I could tell. His short hair was a bit tattered but it kept its lustrous, golden look. His chest was bare except for Gilbert's coat that covered him and bandages that peeked out that covered some kind of wounds.

I turned to Gilbert after looking at the boy and asked him directly. "Is this...?" He gave a curt nod before he averted his eyes from me towards the boy.

"That is Oz Vessalius." We both turned to face Break who now sat down beside Sharon who was quickly starting to fall asleep. "The young boy who was sent to the Abyss ten years ago."

"But our plans seemed to have changed," Sharon added with a dainty yawn while covering her mouth.

My brow furrowed at this choice of words. I glanced towards Gilbert's way, "Changed, how?"

"Oz," he slowly replied my question. "He came out of the Abyss through his own means."

"And since we do not know how that came to be, the only way to figure out all these mysteries is to await for Oz-kun to awaken," Break finalized just as he began eating a portion of cakes from the table across from them.

"I suppose." I never thought that it would be until nighttime when goldilocks actually came to. I had been precariously lying on the ground when I heard a shuffling of clothes and Gilbert's sudden voice calling out to Break.

"Break, he woke up."

At hearing this I brought myself to sit up and watch as the dazed look that he held in his eyes. He seemed out of it. It wasn't until Break welcomed him back to 'his world' that he came fully aware of his surroundings.

"He's a bit of a ditz, isn't he?" I quietly inquired from Gilbert who now stood next to me. He didn't answer and instead only averted his eyes. I gave out a giggle while the boy went on ahead to change from that battered uniform. Truthfully, what Break told him was true. He didn't seem to be the formal type of guy. From his looks alone, he seemed to be more of a mischievous, little brat.

He began to sit down on the table were Break and I had prepared sweets, snacks, and some tea. He was asking about what happened with the people at some coming-of-age ceremony and Gilbert answered him that they were all fine and well. Now that I thought about it, I couldn't go about calling Gilbert by name in front of the boy. He had specifically asked me not to. Something about not wanting to tell him right away.

But regardless of that, when Break started to introduce himself, I took it as a sign to do so as well when he pointed at me with his cane and said, "As for this young lass..."

"Ah," I turn over to the young blonde and give him a small smile. "Just call me Chronos, Vessalius-san."

"A pleasure," he mumbled under his breath.

And after that, I shut my brain off. I couldn't concentrate with so much stuff in mine. So while Break and Sharon spoke to him, the latter whom had awaken shortly after, I went ahead and sat on a chair while watching the whole thing.

**"Is something the matter?"**

No, just me being...absentminded, I suppose. Nonetheless, I heard bits and pieces of their conversation. Break recapped after Oz had explained his escape from the Abyss. Apparently he was able to escape thanks to a certain Chain's power. B-Rabbit he said, or that's what I thought I heard Break repeat.

"That's the...?"

**"Black-Stained Black Rabbit."**

"You knew it?" I asked under my breath closing my eyes briefly.

**"Back when I came to be, I could always sense an astounding presence everywhere yet nowhere at the same time. I knew it was a Chain but it seemed peculiar, unlike Lacrimosa and I who were part of the first born Chains of the Abyss. It was just there, stagnant and immutable. But from what I could gather, it was a very powerful Chain. Felt primal even. It's powers could overwhelm my own pretty easily, with that I'm saying much."**

So whatever helped Oz out of the Abyss was a pretty damn powerful thing. Yet just when I was about to ask Chronos more about this B-Rabbit, Gilbert's sudden outcry of Sharon's name snapped me back to my senses.

At looking up, I saw Oz holding a knife up to Sharon's throat, holding her hostage. Break kept babbling on about how amazing it was completely ignoring Sharon's current state and it pissed me off.

"That's it!" I hiss under my breath once I got tired of Break's incompetence. Yet even before I could reach them, Break had already put into action a binding field that he had, without a doubt, placed way before hand in this specific room.

He twirled his scabbard about in one hand while methodically approaching Oz who crouched before us all. Out of nowhere, Break stabbed Oz in the chest with the tip of his cane. What I didn't expect to happen was for a young, brunette girl to materialize out of him.

"Alice?!" Oz called out in concern as the girl hit ground.

"What in the-" I cringed, not finishing my sentence, as a loud and annoying ringing began to echo in my head. It was painful and I had never felt it before. It was as if it were piercing my eardrums. It just...hurt.

"Cl-" I caught Sharon's hand before she even reached my shoulder and gave her a small smile to assure her I was fine. Truth be told, I wasn't in the least.

"I came to this world..." Her name... Her voice... Why did everything about her seem so damn familiar?! "To find my scattered memories!"

**"Relax!"**

I could barely hear Chronos' bellow from above the constant ringing in my head. What I did hear was Break suddenly snapping away a knife from Alice's hand when she tried to attack him. He was about to attack her again and would have been able to had Oz not gotten in between the two and taken the hit in her stead.

"If you insist on harming Alice any further..." he grunted under the pain the cane had caused him. "I'm afraid I won't cooperate with you."

"Cooperate?" Break repeated a bit perplexed. "Whatever would you mean?"

When Oz starting tallying off Emily's and Sharon's previous remarks about him and how he had deduced we wanted to use him, I cringed internally. This kid...he thought quick on his feet.

"But the one who saved me was Alice!" he shouted at Break with a loud and clear voice. "If you insist on harming the person who saved my life then you are an enemy."

"Enemy, huh?" Break repeated softly while raising his cane. "Seriously, you messed around too much and went on to make Oz-kun mad, Emily."

"Stop putting the damn blame on others, you retard!?" I yelled infuriated at his toying around with us all. Honestly, I will kill him one of these days because of his playing around.

Break simply laughed it off and undid the binding field to let the two little ones move around freely. "I just played a little too much, right? I'll make tea as an apology." Tch, him and his stupid tea. "Shall we talk about it then? Our true goal, that is."

"Damn you, Break," I hiss under my breath. The ringing in my head slightly intensified the instant I heard Chronos outburst in my head.

**"The way!"**

"What?"

"The way, it's connecting!" Gilbert suddenly yelled out turning about towards the table where, from out of nowhere, the pocket watch that Oz had left, had started to shine.

"It's opening from it!" I called out understanding now what Chronos and Gilbert meant. Just as if on cue, the way opened letting out a Trump. "I'll-"

"No need," Break said to me while keeping both, Sharon and I, away from the incident. He then turned to Gilbert and pronounced, "Release the Black Rabbit's power. I want to see with my own eyes just how powerful a thing that is."

Gilbert clicked his tongue and placed his hand upon Oz's head releasing the seal he had placed on B-Rabbit's power. At doing so, Alice's human form disappeared and turned into a giant, black rabbit. As for what happened, I stood watching with my mouth wide open as the brutal carnage took place.

I couldn't believe it. It appeared so implausible that such seemingly innocent thing was capable of such violent acts. Then again, I suppose she's not the Blood-Stained Black Rabbit for nothing.

"She completely...destroyed it," I mumbled under my breath just as she finished and came to be that same girl once more.

**"That is it. That is the immense prowess I felt from before."**

From the corner of my eye, I saw Oz reaching out towards the pocket watch that had fallen sometime during the battle. At his touch, however, the watch began glowing once more. The shine was so powerful that it made me cover my eyes with my forearm.

Once I could see, I found myself in pure whiteness. I turned about trying to find the others and frantically calling out to them but to no avail. They were nowhere in sight.

_"You came as well."_

The voice that suddenly filled my ears was soft and tender and, for some reason, very calming. At turning around towards where I had heard the voice, I found an arched doorway clad in dark curtains. Just like the ones in my dream.

Squinting my eyes, I could barely discern a silhouette and perhaps a faint face but nothing else. The only hint I had was that the voice was deep and most likely a man's voice.

_"You are just like her. Searching this world for what you lost."_

What I lost...? "You!? Do you know about my past?!" I took a step forth but when I did, the image started to fade out. "No, wait!?"

_"Don't fret. He has arrived at last. If you follow after him, you will surely find that which you seek."_

"W-Who are you talking about?!"

There was a slight pause before he smiled, making me flinch a bit and feel my cheeks get warm. What was the matter with me?

_"I can see that-"_ there was another slight pause before he heaved a relieved sigh and continued. _"You have kept it even after all this time."_

"Kept it?" I repeated under my breath. I could have sworn I hadn't even voiced it out.

Suddenly, his arm came forth and his gloved hand came to point towards me. No...not me. He was pointing at...my broche. _"My present...to you."_

"What?" I inquired while unconsciously reaching up to it.

He gave me one last smile before his image finally started to fully fade while the room began lighting up in a blinding light. Before I actually saw him vanish completely, I heard his deep voice one last time. _"Find the connection. Only then will you be able to find me once more, my friend."_

The whiteness overwhelmed my eyes and soon made me cover them. By the time I opened them, I found myself lying in the same room as before. The others, as well, were starting to wake up from the daze that apparently had taken over us all.

Gilbert came over to me once he helped Sharon out. He gave me his hand which I gladly took while holding my head with the other.

"Are you-"

"I'm fine," I replied to his interrupted question. It was getting really tiring hearing the same question over and over again. It took us a couple of minutes to situate ourselves back onto our feet. Once done, it didn't take Alice a second's hesitation to go back to her brutish semblance. But after the whole affectionate way she'd been with Oz after finding that one memory, I wouldn't buy that rough persona.

I sat aside from the whole situation while Break told them about out mission. I didn't really understand what he meant by them turning into his subordinates but what can I say. Better them than me. I've dealt with his madness way too much already. But then again, if they worked for Break then they would be my allies too. Oh well, I can deal with that. As long as she kept her temper under control and he didn't get on my nerves, I was a-okay with it. And what's better, according to hierarchy of the job, I could easily boss them around.

Nice.

A sudden ray of sunlight caught my eye making me cover them so they wouldn't be hit directly. Mm, had all this really happened over the span of the evening towards the morn?

The couple of exclaims made me jump a bit as both Oz and Alice ran towards the balcony doors and burst them open. I couldn't really hear what they were talking about but it didn't matter much really.

"And you know, Chronos—" Break's pronunciation of my name made me turn up and face him. I hadn't noticed that all of us had stayed behind inside the shade of the room to avoid the sunlight that rose over the horizon. Break was simply leaning against Sharon's sit while Gilbert stood beside my own. He raised a finger my way and wagged it as if playing around. "This means that I have a very special job for you~"

I really don't like the sound of that. "W-What is it?" I inquired a bit hesitant.

His grin grew bigger before he chirped out, "You're going to be Oz-kun's new bodyguard!"

"What?!" I raged out almost tipping the chair where I had been sitting over. "Like hell am I going to watch over a snobby brat!"

"It would be much simpler for you than any of us. You would blend in much easier and besides you have tracking skills like no other," he pointed out as I tried keeping my anger inside.

"So...what you're saying is..." I hissed through gritted teeth.

"You're on babysitting duty!" Emily chirped right up making me boil over the top.

"You little-!"

But before I could utter a curse towards both of them, I felt a heavy and large hand upon my head. At turning up, I only saw Gilbert's profile as he stood a bit ahead of me.

"Would you do it?" he calmly asked me. "Not because he told you to but because I'm asking you as a favor...from a friend."

He removed his hand and smiled. I couldn't help but smile back and give him a curt nod. "If it's a favor for you then I'll do it. Don't worry, he'll be under my watch all day, all night."

"Good then," Break agreed clasping his hands together. "But you must finish the last task you were given. That way you can give your full attention to this new, long-term one."

"Don't worry, I'll finish that Rakshanah case," I assured him before turning to glance out towards the two kids outside. "After I'm done there, I'll meet up with Oz, Alice, and Raven." I glanced to my side towards Gilbert, "Is that okay with you."

"Yes, it's fine," he agreed at last. "Be careful out there and be back safe."

I gave him a last curt nod before answering him properly. "Don't worry, I will." And with that he left towards the balcony towards Oz. He placed his hat on the boy's head catching him completely off guard and making him blush a bit and left afterwards. He could be so shy sometimes.

But regardless of what I thought, I would come back and deal with this boy. After all, he is the clue I've been waiting for. He'll be the one to guide me to where I'm supposed to go.

Both of them: Alice...and Oz Vessalius.

* * *

_**Well, how was that? so far I have up to chapter 12 already written and awaiting to be proofread. Since it's only me doing that, it's going at a slow pace. I've wanted to see about a beta-reader but I don't think I could uphold a deadline or something cx**_

_**We'll see about that one. But for now, hoped you liked it and see what happens next ;D**_


	8. Twin Broches

_**Well, we're to chapter eight and everything's moving along nicely c: I'm still trying to put in some work on my other works like my DGM AU and my KH stories. **_

_**But luckily for this one, I have chapters already written out. Like I have five chapters already written prior to posting any one chapter. So when I post this one, I'll already have chapter 13 being written **_  
_**-w-**_

_**Good time management I suppose cx **_

_**Now the Big Arigatou Section ;D**_

_**-**__**Tris PhantomEvans**__** : thanks again for reviewing the latest chapter c: And also thank you very much for the story fave xD**_

_**-**__**LightandDarkHeart**__** : thanks so much for the story favorite and follow. I love getting those just as much as everything else! Feedback is feedback and it's great! **_

_**But for now let's go with this c:**_

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

_**Twin Broches**_

* * *

The next morning, I left before anybody got up. The sun was barely noticeable in the horizon by the time I left for the west regions.

From what Break had told me, in these parts of the west there is a desert dwelling tribe. It mostly consisted of women with the exception of the one young male that had been born there. He was the one that called for Pandora's help. Apparently, their high priestess had gone missing after going to a pilgrimage to their sacred ruins.

It took a while for me to reach the nearest city but then it was utter hell getting to their land. I had to travel on horseback through the harsh sandstorms. But once there, I took in the view of their humble abode. It seemed to be like an Arabian village but much more secluded and specific to a female population.

I halted the horse once we stood upon a bridge that didn't seem stable enough for a full horse to cross. Underneath the bridge was a river and what looked to be a good forty feet fall to it. Yeah, I ain't taking chances with that one. Getting off the horse, I gather my bag and cross cautiously only to be met on the other side by a couple of guards. They were dressed in quite a unique style, more than likely to be better acclimated for the weather than for style purposes.

"Stop right there. What is your business here?" one asked brusquely with a purple veil hiding the bottom half of her face. Her upper face though was nothing short from beautiful for it was very well tanned and her eyes gorgeously painted in make-up. Her upper body was dressed in the same purple color on a strapless crop top with gold embroidery and had the same color pants that were very puffy on the ends. Cool style, but not for me.

"I come from the organization of Pandora. I was sent here regarding the case of your priestess," I proclaim and stand tall trying to be as intimidating as them.

The other guard dressed very similarly, came to the other and whispered to each other. Once done, the first gave me a curt nod. "Please follow me, I shall guide you to the village."

I thank them and follow behind her while the other takes care of my horse but stays behind. Once in the village, I thought at how much different this whole place was. The girls all around were very much alike the other two, their clothing somewhat different but just as acclimated for the weather. They also had a lot of weapons around, that I didn't miss.

We came across the sandy landscape and came to a building were another woman was inside sitting in a grand room. Almost like a court for hearings.

An ebony-haired woman with gold eyes came down from her chair and towards me. With a wave of her hand towards the girl beside me, she dismissed her. My guide bowed down and left the room without another word.

"You must be the agent sent by Pandora." The woman held a very nice posture to her. Her attire was a bit more concealing. She wore a single piece dress that barely reached her thighs and was strapless with her shoulders and arms covered by a very short, long-sleeved bolero. She also had small slip on shoes and her hair was pinned up in a tidy bun with a couple of bangs curving around her face.

Her eyes glanced down at me and she smiled while holding out her hand. "My name's Visulle. I appreciate that you have come so far for us. All of us are truly thankful about this task you have taken."

Shaking her hand, I returned the smile to her before speaking. "I was told that an anonymous requester had called for our help."

"That was my lord," she pronounced putting a finger to her cheek. "But he had matters to attend to so I was left here to deal with this issue."

"So where are these ruins?" I asked trying to get to the point.

"Ah yes, you must be in quite a hurry to get this done." Visulle came up close to a big chest and took out a pile of clothing that was more proper for the weather. "You might want to change into these. It will be easier for you to be in these while you're here." I took the change of clothes while she guided me to the next room to change.

Once I was done, I came out with Visulle who started showing me a map of where the ruins would be.

"Great," I called out adjusting my cloak. "I'll head there right away."

"We will," Visulle corrected and followed behind me.

"Excuse me?"

"Any ruins located in the desert are very hard to find except for those who have been there before. This is my home village and I have been to the ruins before." Her explanation was short but straight to the point. "It will be much better than going alone."

I finally sighed and nodded at her. Once the sunset came, we headed out. The sandstorms had subsided and all that was left to deal with was the heat that, despite it being nighttime, was still quite scorching.

"We're here." Visulle and I stopped at the steps of the rundown ruins. "These are the ruins that the priestess visited. She's been missing for four days now and since her disappearance monsters have been appearing from this general area." We both entered to the grand entranceway that was filled with lighted torches. Visulle came up to one and took it, handing it to me while taking another. She waved her torch towards the entrance archway straight ahead, "The purification stage is over that way and down the stairway. I cannot accompany you there but it should be easy to find your way."

"You're not coming?" I asked her curious.

"I cannot, it is against the village's religion. Only the high priestess may go there but seeing as you are not of our people, there shouldn't be a problem."

I give her a curt nod and start to head towards the area she called the purification stage. Once inside, the stairway downward began. It was a spiraling staircase that kept going down and down. It seemed very dark and musky down here and the lower I got the muskier it got.

After what appeared to be countless of stairs, I finally arrived to a round room of great scale. It was dark and I couldn't see anything beyond the light of my torch. For a second I only heard the crackling of the torch's flame but the moment I stopped to really listen I heard something peculiar. It sounded...like metal, and it was coming from somewhere in the room.

I deduced where the noise originated from and without a second thought threw my torch towards its general direction. For seconds all I heard was the distinctive clanking of the wooden torch as it bounced a few meters and stopped. But it didn't take long for the light to illuminate what I had heard.

It was a hefty armor and it seemed to be carrying a huge axe on its back. But it didn't seem to move at all.

"An armor?" My voice was not anything above a whisper but it seemed to reverberate in the grand empty room made of stone.

"That's right."

The sudden voice that echoed across the stone made me jump as the torches along the room's walls began lighting by themselves. Specially because of how deep it sounded. The heavy echo didn't let me locate the person but I had more pressing issues to attend to when I heard the metal clanking again.

Turning towards the armor, I saw as it began to move. It reached over for its axe and held it before itself with both hands. Without warning, it charged at me rather slowly.

It gave me plenty of time to jump back when it swung its axe down at me. The axe itself got stuck in the ground with me out of the way.

"Excelion." I caught the medallions in my palms just as it brought the weapon out of the stone floor. I charged at it and jumped over its back. A pounded it from behind with momentum bringing it to its knees and landed safely a few feet behind it. At turning around, though, it hadn't been done with as I thought but instead had only a few pieces of it's armor fall down.

It rose and spun on its heels and came towards me with its axe once more, this time a lot quicker. It barely gave me time to call for Seiren. The sash encircle me in a half sphere of clothing that saved me from the axe that could have hit my head. I crouched out of the way when it attempted to hit me a second time. I felt the medallions that had changed their letters from _X_ to _V_.

When the axe got stuck another time, I called out for another weapon. "Hades!" The medallions disappeared from the palms of my hands and in their stead two, twin kukri blades appeared. The tip of each blade was cleanly cut off and on each blade were the letters _XII._

I figured a long time ago that I fought much better with two large blades than a single one. So with this I skirted the large armor and slashed it's helmet off from behind. But at turning to look at it, I noticed that no head was in it.

Had I cut the head off too? I glanced towards the helmet and saw no head inside of it. There was really no head in there. Turning to the armor once more, I saw it fall down and the armor vanish but leaving no body behind.

"Well, isn't that awful." The voice boomed, echoing through all the stone walls. It was still hiding somewhere I couldn't tell. Yet that voice...it held a very thick accent. But it wasn't the kind that shattered a voice. This voice...it was lilting and calming and...familiar. "Toys aren't to be broken so easily."

A small tremor came making me turn about to notice that a wall directly across from the entrance had opened up leading to another, darkened room. Clicking my tongue in frustration, I make one of Hades' blades disappear for a minute while I call, "Legion."

In my free right hand, the usual spear comes to my palm. I take aim towards the room ahead and throw it. It flies true and when it hits whatever is inside, I hear the distinctive clank of metal. Then more noise as another armor comes forth from the darkened room. Having Legion vanish, I take Hades' other blade once more and head for the armor.

I had no intention of playing around this time and headed straight for it. At raising it's axe, I took a jump and roundhouse kicked it out of its hands before leaping once more and cutting the heavy armor in half with Hades' double-edged blades.

Safely landing behind it, I got up and turned to find the armor on its knees and parts falling again. This time, however, it didn't just vanish and it left me wide-eyed.

"Well, she turned out to be a good source of information." I could barely hear the voice of the bastard that did this. I ran over to the girl's body that now laid limp after having been inside that full-bodied armor. Checking her vitals, I sighed at feeling a faint but stable beating. "A useful weapon too. Her heightened preternatural powers made her more susceptible giving me enough of an entryway to 'adjust' her mind." He gave a little chuckle at the one word, as if having controlled her was fun. Picking her up, I took her to the nearest wall to rest while I dealt with this asshole.

"Come out already, you coward!" I bellow at the top of my lungs in a dumb attempt to draw whoever was out there. From the darkened room, a somewhat tall figure approached from the shadows. Once the torchlight hit his figure, I could clearly make out the red cloak that he was clad in. Of course it had to be. "Baskerville..." I muttered through gritted teeth and held Hades tightly in my palms.

I couldn't see his face because, even with his hood up, the part of his face that was partially visible was masked. He spread his hands outward, invitingly, "Guilty." That same lilt was now more noticeable than ever now that I had him face-to-face. His head turned slightly towards the priestess and I followed him, keeping her as much out of view as possible. "She is no longer of any use to me. Whatever she knew on this land's lord, I have taken from her. Torture has never been a fad of mine but with this one it couldn't be helped."

"You bastard!"

His head hung low for a second before coming to face the door that led outside. At seeing him take a step towards it, I sidestepped to stand in his way with only feet separating us.

"Leave me be if you don't want harm to come towards either of you."

"How gentlemanly," I say snidely while twirling both blades into place. "But I disagree with that. If anybody's going to get hurt it's you if you take another step towards that door. I'll be taking you back with me to Pandora. It's up to you whether it'll be consciously or not."

"I mean what I say. But if you insist on intervening then I have no choice." He let out that last part with a tired sigh but right after I heard a very distinctive sound I recognized: the swishing of metal being drawn out.

But before I could even react, he had leaped out from his prior stand and had launched at me. I had just enough time to leap back letting him catch a tad of my right arm and all of my cloak in some kind of blade. Quickly cutting the latch off with one of the kukri blades, I let it be snatched off from me and give myself some good distance away. I twirled to face him, ready if he were to attack but only watched his back. He glanced at the cloak the three blades in his hands held but brushed his arm away, letting the cloth fall to the ground. At him doing this, I finally got a glance at the weapon he'd used.

Tiger claws, and they were mounted on both his hands on gauntlets. What made my breath hitch, though, was what I thought I saw on the plates on the back of the gauntlets. Not having time to think about my shock, I leap back when he charges at me to attack once more. I avoid it and instead let go of Hades.

I can't fight close-range with him, not with how fast he is. Instead, I resort to another method. "Achlys!" In my hands, I feel the handle of the bullwhip form and know that the orichalcum thong spread out before me. The thong itself longer than a normal whip, lashes out when I whisk it out, the noise to a minimum because instead of the popper it has a pointed, diamond-shaped end. Resting my pinky on the back of the knot, I feel the carved out letters _VIII_.

Without wasting a beat, I whisk it his way when he charged once more my way and wrap it around his raised left hand. Once latched on, I hold my ground and whirl him towards the wall. He crashes forcefully with it making some fall out even and lots of sand and debris to fill the air. I hold onto Achlys while covering my nose and mouth with my forearm.

I hear swooshing but am too late to counter anything when I feel the biggest pain on the left side of my body. Crashing into the wall, I can't seem to concentrate on either of the two wounds that were caused. I get up but barely, while holding my left side. Damn, it hurts too much. If anything my ribs were probably broken.

As the debris begins to dissipate, I see him standing languidly with an over-sized ebony warhammer over his right shoulder. This time I know I'm not imaging it. It was carved in gold on side of the hammer, the letters _III_.

"A...Last Hour?" I groan under my breath through my pain. Shit, it was getting a little harder to breath each time.

"This?" He glanced over his shoulder to the hammer and came back to me. "Yes, it's the Third Hour: Ares. Surely you've known for sometime that you aren't their only bearer."

I've known but after a whole year of looking I never found one clue about their whereabouts. The ones that were connected to Chronos and I. "You're Lacrimosa's contractor."

"That I am," he answered simply laying his armed hand down letting the warhammer disappear. Out of nowhere, his head jerked to the side and I thought I heard a low groan. "Regardless of that, I'm afraid we must bid our farewells."

"N-No!" I call out barely audible. I decided, though, that I couldn't let him escape now more than ever. Ignoring the pain as much as I humanly could, I ran up to him and leaped over to land between the door and him. "Like I said, you're not leaving."

"I cannot stay a second longer here. So if you insist I will have to take you down." He raised his right hand to the level of his shoulder, "Christ." In his palm a small ball of light came to it before forming a basket hilt sword. On the hilt was the letter _I_ carved in ebony on the silver and gold hilt with intricate patterns.

"The First Hour..." I muttered holding onto one of Hades' blades with my left hand and holding my side with the right. I discarded the shocked look I knew I had and stood my ground.

He only seemed to stare for a few seconds before sighing. Quickly after, he raised the basket hilt sword and charged at me without me noticing. I failed to see him coming and it cost me. I felt his sword pierce my left side, the same one he had hit before. I even felt him draw it back and my body falling aside. Shit, I didn't have anymore strength!

"Different from what you may think, not all of us are the same. Which is why I will spare you here, but only this once. Don't expect to get this fortunate if we meet in the future." He made Christ disappear and began walking about languidly almost as if not wanting to.

No. I can't let him leave. I...have a promise to keep!

_"Let me help you."_

At hearing that soothing voice, I felt a pair of gloved hands cover my eyes. They felt...warm.

_"I will assist you this once and only because there is something here you must see. For the meantime, rest. Let Chronos take this time out of your hands."_

And before I knew it—and could even help it— I fell asleep.

* * *

The boy stopped in mid walk only to look over his shoulder for a brief second. But his little distraction gave his attacker enough time to dig a spear onto his shoulder. Jumping back, he pulled it out and only stared at Claire, who, despite her injuries, was standing as if nothing.

"How?" he groaned under the great pain in his shoulder. "You shouldn't be—"

"It's not her, lad." The voice that had spoken was Claire's but it was mixed with a much deeper one. A male's voice. At raising her head, the boy gasped at noticing Claire's eyes had changed from her dark, metallic blue to a swirling mercury color. They were daunting at worst.

"Chronos..." he pronounced with the same lilt in his voice. "Taking control over her without permission. Won't she be cross at you for it?"

"She was agonizing thanks to you," Chronos responded in that same mixed voice. "Now, thanks to him, I get to repay the favor tenfold." Claire twirled her hand and with that one of Hades' blades appeared. Without missing a beat, she had launched at the boy hurting him once more, this time on his right arm. Before he even had a chance to compose himself, Claire drew out Achlys, "Not so fast, lad!" Catching him by his already injured arm, Claire flung him across the room onto one of the walls. Achlys disappeared from her hands while the debris and sand dispersed into a cloud for a couple of minutes. "Feel like giving up yet?"

The answer that came, though, were a pair of knives that she evaded with a quick side step. The knives themselves stuck to the wall behind her. The blades, Chronos knew, were no longer than his palm but were three fingers thick while the hilts were almost nonexistent with a single finger thick. The five were identical and he knew where they had come from.

The Fourth Hour, Erebos. "So you've decided to come out and chat, dearie?"

From the cloud of debris came the Baskerville boy but instead of limping and hurting like Chronos knew he should be, he was standing up just find and was holding in his uninjured hand a European hand fan of red orichalcum embroidery but in between the two sides of material was the deadly contraption that held those tiny knives. Another five sprouted from it giving it its spiked look once more.

"Well, sweetheart—" the boy's voice was heavily mixed with the voice of a woman. Hers sounded just as lilting as the boy's and Chronos', yet a bit higher and more indulging. "How about we both stop playing around and let the children resolve this on their own?"

"Now there's the problem, you see." Chronos spoke pointing a hand at the possessed boy— or simply Lacrimosa. "I cannot let her die, just like you the lad."

"True," Lacrimos agreed and held the fan to hide the already hidden face of the boy. "But I couldn't just let him face you alone. You're as ruthless as they come after all. Facing you would have meant certain death for the boy. So how about we call it...a draw?"

"And let you slip away again? Don't think so, dearie."

"Think about it, love. Yours is tattered and needs to be treated. Mine is in no better condition but is certainly more up to a fight than she is. Let us leave and we'll be even." Claire's expression didn't change but a sudden rush of pain came to Chronos. Usurping a human body would temporarily take the pain away but it was only that: temporary. Now he had taken too long to stop them from leaving. He made Claire lower Hades and made it disappear.

Lacrimosa chuckled under her throat out of satisfaction while letting Erebus disappear. "Don't fret, love. We will meet again. It is written so. You and I knew this day would come. The day that time and space would clash to ultimately destroy us or save us."

"These two are our ticket out of our prison. But I'll tell you this right now, she will survive this. I'll see to it myself," Chonos swore while watching the boy.

Lacrimosa only gave him a smile he couldn't see through the mask and grabbed the end of the cloak to wrap the boy in it. Before their very eyes, the clothing twirled and disappeared into nothing. In the air, her voice alone traveled through the room.

"The day draws ever closer, love. And once it is upon us, we will see who will remain standing in the end."

* * *

I felt myself coming back to my body. The way I had been taken over like that felt like I was being peeled away from my own skin. I was surrounded in a dark mist that let me watch and hear all that happened while Chronos took over my body.

I couldn't feel the pain. It was calming but...also very dark and lonely.

"Never—fucking—do that again." My panting broke my words that were already weak from the pain that came back with a fervor. My broken ribs were hurting like a bitch and the wound from Christ was killing me. Luckily, I managed to stop the bleeding with Chronos' time-stopping abilities. It would only last for a little while but enough for me to do what I had to do.

**"I apologize about that but you were getting your ass kicked out there. Had it not been for him letting me control you, you would've most likely died."**

Him...

_Only because there's something here you must see._

"Who was he?"

**"I have no idea. But have you noticed where we are? Or more like were we aren't?"**

I took a quick look around and noticed two things. The high priestess was gone...and the whole room was round with no exit except the arch leading to the next room. The torches around the room were lit with an eerie blue fire.

"What is this? When the hell did we come here?"

**"It must have been done while you and the boy were fighting. Lacrimosa must have used her powers to take the two of you here."**

"Her powers?"

**"I control time. She controls space. She could have created a wormhole leading us here. And since the transportation would have been motionless—"**

"We wouldn't have noticed she even moved us." I walked over to the archway and through it to find another lit room with the same torches lit by the blue fire. This round room was much smaller than the previous and only held a pedestal in the middle and a small gem sat encrusted. "What the—"

**"Wait!"**

"What?!"

**"If you touch that, you'll break the dimension we're in."**

"Isn't that what we want? To get out of here?" I asked a bit confused at his sudden jumpiness.

**"You don't know what breaking the center of this dimension she got us into will do or where it'll leave us."**

"Well," I finally say with a long sigh. "The only way to find out is by going for it, isn't it?"

**"Yes but Clai—"**

"Then let's find out." Reaching to the gem, I barely get to touch it with my forefinger when it suddenly breaks, letting out a burst of blinding light. It's so bright that it makes me cover my eyes with my free arm. I heard the walls around begin to crack and shatter and soon I'm engulfed into a sea of whiteness.

* * *

_"Why are you here?" _

_A little ebony haired girl sat at the edge of her bed in her nightgown, already having been sent to bed a good hour ago. Yet the man standing before her thought it the best surprise to stay after hours for this one thing. Her hair was a bundled mess from lying down and her eyes were a vibrant crimson._

_The man wore a long plait of golden hair and wore elegant emerald, white, and black clothing. His face, however, was a darkened space. His voice, though, was clearly recognizable as warm and calming. A voice that soothed her at her worse times._

_"To give you a special present! Your sixth birthday hasn't ended, after all and we thought it best to give it to you in person."_

_"We?" the little girl called out perplexed as she rubbed her eyes groggily. _

_The door to her bedroom opened and in came two figures that made her forget all about her sleepiness and give a grand smile._

_"We came too!" The two little boys that had entered cheered in a hushed tone but delighted nonetheless. The youngest one of them, a blonde the age of the girl, was smiling and holding the hem of his own sleeping garments in nervousness._

_"When we were told about this secret gift giving for you we obviously agreed to come and surprise you," the older raven-haired boy added with a little more confident voice._

_The blonde approached the girl while holding his hands behind his back. He suddenly took them from his back and showed her the box in his hands that was decorated in blue paper and white bows. The box wasn't big and could fit in his palms easily._

_"This is for you," he murmured, a little shy. "From us three."_

_Taking it, she unwrapped it slowly and couldn't help but beam at seeing what was inside. She pulled out the most beautiful broche she had ever seen, the color of emerald and encircled with gold while having carvings on the emerald top. "Is this really for me?" she chirped out while holding it up to the light._

_"Yeah!" the blonde called more excited now knowing that she had liked the present._

_"It's beautiful!" she complimented while caressing the top of the broche._

_"And look!" The man got her attention and pulled out a golden pocket watch and showed her the front of it. "It has the same insignia as the pocket watch!" He clicked it open as a nice melody began playing softly inside her room. He closed it before glancing at her again, "It's a little different than a music box or pocket watch but I was able to make it work. It's a locket too!" He commented cheerfully showing her how it opened to keep a photo inside. She closed it and held it close to her bosom, caringly. _

_"Oh thank you!" she cried out, tears actually falling from how happy she was. She came off from her bed and hugged the two kids while the man bent down to hug the three all together. "Thank you all so much!"_

_"Happy birthday, Claire!"_

* * *

"You're as careless as ever."

Lottie had, once more, entered his room without his okay. He knew that even in this rundown little estate that he got them awhile ago —wasn't much trouble getting a place to be in this godforsaken city— she never cared for his privacy. Not once.

He knew he was referring to the wounds he'd gotten a couple of hours ago. Thanks to Lacrimosa, he had been transported back without a problem but the wounds were still there. And they did hurt. "It'll heal," he assured her and sat up on his bed.

Fang had taken care of the wounds after his arrival, after all, and was sure that mending his wounds would help his already heightened healing abilities as a Baskerville.

"Doesn't matter," she chided while grabbing a chair and coming to sit beside his bed. "Besides that, you know that you could have opened another hole if Chronos and Lacrimosa had clashed."

"She can't use those powers so it wouldn't have mattered," he called once again averting his eyes from her face.

"You're such a downer, really." She came up to the bedside table and turned on the oil lamp that sat there. The soft light of the lamp gave a much better view of the boy she spoke off. He was young, fifteen, and his appearance hadn't change much. Unlike the rest of them who had stopped aging because of their contracts, he had gotten out of the Abyss young and had aged normally. Lottie herself had looked after the boy who had gotten out a few months after her, followed by Fang, Doug, and Zwei. "You need to take more care of yourself. Just because you can't die that easily doesn't mean you can't at all. You worry all of us."

"Not 'all' exactly."

That sarcastic remark had hurt him more than he thought it would have. He talked about her in front of Lottie often but it never changed his reaction to every mention of the girl. His dark, swirling crimson eyes would avert but she could still see the grief in them. And even with his dark, ebony hair cut a little longer with it barely touching the nape of his neck and bangs covering his eyes a bit, she could still see that clear anguish.

Lottie gave a sigh and simply placed a hand on his head before ruffling his hair. "It may be hard now, but we'll figure out a way to get her back. But keep in mind that even if we do, she might not want us back. And if that happens and she becomes our enemy—"

"Even then, we won't kill her." His dark eyes came up to catch her own before he threw his head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling. "You'll see. How could we, after all?" He heaved a great sigh before muttering, "If only I hadn't—"

Now it was her turn to interrupt him. "Don't punish yourself so much with 'what ifs'. They don't serve a purpose. For now, let's remain positive but if all goes south, we'll have no other choice but to fight against each other. And if worse comes to happen, we might have to kill her. Just keep that in the back of your head. Now go to sleep. You need it." With that last sour comment, she rose from her seat and left him to rest.

After hearing her leaving, he reached under the cover where his hands had been resting the whole time. In them, he had quickly hidden the little picture in a locket of a little girl. The photo was in black and white but her black hair that was to her shoulders was clearly visible but her eyes were so discernable. The little girl held only the hand of another but the picture cut off there leaving no inkling of who the other person was. He heaved a sigh before closing the locket, letting the full view of a blue broche encircled in golden loops. The design on the top of the sapphire broche was also carved out in gold.

He gently and endearingly caressed the top of it while glancing down at it with his sharp, crimson eyes. "Even then..." he muttered under his breath. "Even if you and I have to fight...I won't kill you." He slowly brought up the broche and gently brushed it with his lips before pressing it to his forehead. "I will never kill the one and only person I have left to love."

* * *

_**Well, that was a big change from the previous one cx A lot more detail on the little village. Talking about that, for those who already read my original story, there's little treat in the first part x3**_

_**For now that's all c: Hoped you liked it and stay tuned for the next chapter :D**_


	9. Under the Hunt

_**Yay chapter nine! xD last chapter was a good change from the original one :D come's closer to a certain character's personality x3**_

_**Let's head to the Thank You Corner for right now ;3**_

_**-**__**Tris PhantomEvans**__** : thanks so much for the review! x3 For this story, you've been a very constant reviewer and I love reviews like that. I love knowing how my work is going and what I can do to improve c: So thanks again do very much! :D**_

_**For now let's continue with the next one :D**_

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**_Under the Hunt_**

* * *

"It was only a miscalculation of mine, that is all. You needn't treat me so foul."

"Miscalculation, my ass!" I raged at Break after giving him the silent treatment the whole ride back home. "You planned this!"

"Now, you're giving me too much credit." Break simply waved his sleeved-covered hand at me and grinned. I gave him a pout as response and glared away trying not to rip his head off.

He said he found me about three hours ago in Visulle's care. From what she had told us both, she had found me that same night after hearing the ruckus that the fight had caused. She found the priestess and I both unconscious inside the almost destroyed place. From there, she called reinforcements and took us back to be taken care of. From the many injuries I got from that one fight, the one that seem to persist was the one to my ribs. The wound itself had closed but it was still tender.

In retrospect, I suppose I failed the mission since the Baskerville got away. Then again I got their priestess back and that was good. At least I helped someone. I kept on raging against Break until we stood before Sharon's parlor back in the Rainsworth's. It had taken much longer than expected. So now that I had some time to relax and have some tea with him and Sharon, he told me what had happened to the others while I was away.

Apparently, they had gone to investigate the mansion where Oz had his coming-of-age ceremony. From what Break told me, it seemed that they too were attacked by another Baskerville. Odd, really. How would they have known where and when each of us would be at our locations? It didn't make sense at all.

"Could they be keeping tabs on us?" I inquired once I served myself my sweets and tea.

"Not out of the realm of possibility—" Break began as he sat to my right and next to Sharon as she quietly drank her own tea. "But it is highly questionable to why they would be keeping a look out for you. Oz-kun, I understand but you..."

"It's weird any which way you look at it." I picked up my cup of tea expecting to feel the mildly tepid beverage against my lips but instead find it empty. Not a drop inside it. "What in the—" At glancing up I notice that the cup in Break's hands was actually mine and that he'd exchanged them. I heaved trying not to rip his head off his shoulders. Putting the cup down, I turned to face Sharon, "Where are they now, anyway?"

"At Gilbert's house in Reveille," she replied while taking a sip of hers. "Break suggested that they remain there while he researched about what they saw in the mansion."

What they saw... "About that..." And with that I took on explaining to them what had happened to me at that shrine. The Baskerville that I fought and that he was Lacrimosa's contractor. And about the memory that I encountered about my broche. "And that's when I noticed—" I took my broche out from my pocket and placed it upon the table on my left. "Both my broche and Oz's pocket watch have the same engraved insignia."

"That they do," Break agreed after further inspection of the intricate jewelry.

"That's why I wanted to ask if I could borrow Oz."

"Borrow...Oz-sama?" Sharon repeated a bit perplexed.

Nodding and putting my broche in its place, I continue to explain. "Because of what I witnessed I now know that whatever Oz is looking for could also guide me to a clue about my own past. Perhaps...Alice and I have more in common than I thought in the beginning."

"Well, even so, I cannot allow it."

"Why not?" I inquired trying to make some sense appear in the hollow head of his. "It would be completely safe."

"Until we are sure of what the Baskerville's want from him, we cannot allow Oz-kun anywhere out of our sight. He is a vital piece that must be guarded," he explained while eating his tenth desert. "But worry not, I will try to seek out some information about that insignia and see where it leads."

"In the meanwhile," Sharon intervened and spoke to me. "You must stay and rest your injuries. You were far too wounded in the last mission. Even if they are healed, I am sure that your exhaustion still remains."

And she was right, I was exhausted as hell. But even so, I can't just stand around and do nothing. "I'll be fine Sharon, I promise. Mrs. Belle must be worried sick about me as well. I'll go visit her and then give those three a go around too while I'm at it."

"That could wait then." I turned towards Break as he finished his eighteenth cake. Damn, how can he eat that much so fast?! "I'll be paying them a home visit tomorrow early. Maybe you could accompany me then."

Blinking a couple of times, I end up smiling and nodding. Sharon then spoke up once more, "By the way, there is one more thing." My ears perked up at hearing that she needed something more. "It would be much in everybody's benefit for you to remain in the Rainsworth mansion from now onwards."

"What?" I asked completely taken aback from her request.

She nodded before continuing to explain her reason behind my sudden transfer. "Now that Oz has met the Will of the Abyss, we must remain together now more than ever. As if the Baskervilles weren't enough, he and Alice-san seem to be it's main objectives and without proper watch could end up harmed or worse. It is essential for us all to be together."

"The Will of the Abyss..." I muttered under my breath and glanced down at my empty cup. I've only heard about it from the little information that Pandora has but it sounds like a pretty fearsome entity if we have to huddle together to protect the brat. But I guess I have to do what I have to, even though I know Mrs. Belle won't like it one bit. "If I am to do it then I want to ask for something in return."

"What would that be?" Break asked taking over the conversation.

"If anything about Alice's memories rises I will also be informed. I have a feeling that if I follow Alice, she will guide me to what I'm looking for."

"Easy enough."

After that and assessing other minor things, I excused myself and returned to my room to rest. Stripping myself of the heaviness of a uniform, I lie in bed with my nightgown and keep repeating the memory that I had seen in my head.

No matter how many times it came to my mind, it always had that same warmth. It was so tender and loving that it lulled me to sleep.

* * *

Vincent sat in the appeasing darkness of his room. The only sound that came from that darkness was the quick snipping of the scissors he held while mauling it to its components.

All of a sudden, he felt a slight disturbance behind him and not much afterwards felt and heard the whistle of the dagger that narrowly missed the left side of his face and came to be lodged a good quarter inch deep in the mahogany desk before him. The hand of the holder that had done such treacherous act, retracted slowly. The adopted Nightray finally chuckled as if amused before continuing to snip at his already broken doll.

"What an _unexpected_ surprise. It's so much like you to come barging into one's room, uninvited—is it not, Sir Red?"

The boy stood tall and was clad with the same scarlet cloak as his brethren. Despite being covered from head to toe by it he stood proud and deadly, like a well doted predator that only nature's harsh fires itself could create.

"Enough of your nonsense, you bastard rat!" He snarled baring his teeth at him. Even though he knew he couldn't be seen, the hoarseness and begrudging tone in his voice was enough to send a chill down anybody's spine. "You knew—You knew that she would be there. That is the reason you sent me there, to make us face each other. You planned it!"

Vincent's slight chuckle filled the air as he snipped an ear off from the stuffed bear in his hands. "Now, Sir Red, is that anguish I perceive in your voice?" Finding this quite amusing, he laughed a bit more before continuing. "But if you must know, yes, I did knew beforehand that she would be there. Aside from that, shouldn't you be thanking me? After all, it was because of me that you finally got to see her." He gave another slight chuckle that he attempted to muffle, "It _was_ amusing to see that gleam in your eyes return, though. Pray tell, when was the last time you felt that, if ever?"

"I'm not here for your entertainment." With a wave of his hand, the dagger that he had plunged on the desk turned into a sealed enveloped through the usage of his powers. "I am here because of my job. Had you not misled me, I would have gotten this to you sooner."

Vincent left the doll aside and pulled the contents out from the envelope before meticulously reading them. Afterwards, a small grin formed on his lips in delight. "So, it is true then. That tome actually exists—that your_ people_ hold it in their custody."

"That seems to be the case," Sir Red replied while languidly stalking his way towards the window and undoing the latch. "If it is then once I obtain it..." he let the thought hang in the air as both knew exactly what would happen once they obtained it.

"It's so nice doing business with you, Sir Red," Vincent added as he stood up and threw the letter into the heart of the fire that rested in his fireplace. "But know that this must be kept quiet even from Miss Charlotte."

"I'm not an idiot." Sir Red then draped his legs over the windowpane. "And let this be a warning for you. If you even think of laying a hand on her for your games, I'll come back and gut you were you stand." With that last threat, he left as swiftly as he came.

Vincent stood beside the roaring fire, staring intently at it. Walking over to the destroyed doll at his desk he came back over to the fire with scissors in hand.

"Oh, Sir Red. You have no idea..." He punctured the doll through the stomach making a hole right through it. It was broken beyond repair and at noticing this, he simply tossed it into the fireplace and watched as it burned. "You have _no_ idea."

* * *

Out of the blue, I couldn't help but give out a shriek of terror as I woke up from my dream. Or more like my nightmare.

I glanced around to find myself alone in my own room. That's right, I was at the Rainsworth's mansion. Morning hit already since I could see the sun rising from my balcony door. Without giving my prior nightmares any thought, I began to change and soon found myself at Sharon's parlor were the two usual ones came to have their morning tea.

"Good morning, Claire," Sharon said to me with a smile that I returned.

Break simply waved while Emily answered, "About time!"

"Shut it." I grabbed the back of the chair while I glared at the demonic doll.

"Are you not joining us?" I shook my head as an answer which surprised her a tad bit by her expression. "How come?"

"I've got some stuff I got to do." Turning to face Break, he glanced up from his strawberry shortcake to direct his eyes towards me. "I'll catch up to you an meet you all at Gilbert's."

"That's all right." He licked the plate clean before finalizing his dangling thought. "But may we now where it is you are heading so early?"

"Just some place. I need to clear my mind," I simply answered and walked off, waving and leaving without hearing another word.

Once outside the mansion, I stood before one of the free coachmen and asked him to take me to where I needed to go. It was the afternoon when we finally arrived to the next city of Bethlem.

"Miss, are you positive that this is the correct way?" the coachmen asked me, his voice shaky clearly from the fear the place evoked in him. I, for one, didn't like the place much either but it was where I needed to go.

"Yes, I'm sure. Don't worry though, where we're going won't be as bad as the main city, I hope." My assurance did little to calm his nerves but it was only reasonable considering how bad the place was.

Bethlem, as it was, was a slum city, if it could even be called that. It was in ruins but it was partially functional. A small quarter of the city was somewhat normal but that quarter left the other 3/4 alone as the slums that they were. In the brink where the two united was where I needed to go. I closed the curtains as we begin passing by the most horrible part of the city. Murder happened here a lot. Homelessness was another big thing. But mostly people came from all ways here just because it was such a good place to hide bodies. Nobody would come seek out a dead body from here. It would be like looking for a leaf in a forest.

I felt the carriage come to a stop and hear the coachman call to me. "We've arrive, Miss." Coming out, I notice that the huge hospital hasn't changed much. Except for its decadence. "Are you sure you will be all right?"

"Yes, don't worry." I nod his way and point out towards the quarter part of town, "Head northward and you'll find the sheriff's office. You'll be safe there while I attend to my business. I'll find you when I'm done."

He gave a curt nod as silent thanks and headed his way. Turning back to the hospital I walked through the semi-broken gates and entered the hospital. At going in, an old nurse came up to me with a mean glare.

"What, you here again?" she asked harshly.

"I've come to visit," I replied as calmly as I could. "Is he free?"

She tsked and simply motioned for me to follow her. As we walked through the crummy hallways, I kept my eyes downward trying not to make eye contact with any of the other patients as it was asked of any visitors. But it was hard not to when hearing all those different people. It was sad to say the least.

Finally, we arrived at the door of a lone room. Two buff guards stood on each side of the door not letting anyone in from the outside, or anybody out from the inside. The head nurse turned to me, "If anything occurs, we'll be outside."

I give her a curt nod before the guards open the door to let me in. Once inside, they leave it open in case of emergency but I know there's no need for any caution.

Inside, I immediately see the back of a man sitting down before a table. His hair was coal, black and long and was tied behind his back and traveled to the small of his back. He hadn't turned when I walked in the room that was well furnished and didn't pull his head up to look at me as I began rounding the small round table.

He had good features albeit being pale from lack of sunlight and the medicines that they gave him. His eyes were as dark as his mane of a hair but they were glazed over as if delirious from those same substances. He was sitting in front of that table with his right leg on the chair while holding a black queen of the chessboard upon the table.

"I had expected your visit a bit earlier, χάσετε το χρόνο." I didn't react at the name he had given me the first time I found him in this hell hole. From what he told me, he was Greek and that name _chásete to chróno_ that meant Miss Time was how he referred to me as. I came up to the opposite side of the table were the white side of the chessboard was set. I never understood how he knew I would visit. He was something else for sure, just as much as Break, if not more.

"I just barely had more time free from work." I took my first move on the board from which we started a game. "I've found some other clue about what's happened."

"Have you now?" he asked with his accent showing through his English words. "Finally gotten more information from that friend of yours?"

"No, Break didn't get me through this time," I continued chatting with him nonchalantly as we continued playing. "I found it out in the desert."

"Interesting. So, what was it?"

My hand twitches a bit and I pull my broche from my pocket and show it to him. "I found a pocket watch with the exact same insignia. I was wondering if you ever stumbled upon that."

He glanced up lazily from his piece. "Where did the watch come from?"

"It was found on a grave. The name was too faded out to know whose it was," I explained as he began to move again. "So, anything on your vault of knowledge?"

"Negative on the grave, dearie. The insignia seems a little familiar." He took over my knight before heading on towards my king. "But that you already knew. We have talked about it before, after all." I sighed and massaged my temple to think of a move to beat his ass. Trying a lame attempt, I went on ahead and kept on explaining to him about what the others had seen. "It doesn't ring a bell, unfortunately for you. But I might know of someone who might have even more knowledge than I do."

"Who would that be?" I asked as I risked it and move my king towards his side.

"A person in your vicinity. He is a duke, the oldest of four." Out of nowhere, he took out my last pawn and grinned. I cursed under my breath as I saw that I didn't have any other move left. "And with that I believe I've won."

I sighed, defeated, and grimace at him. "I don't understand you at all. Will you ever tell me your real name?"

He wiggled his finger at me, "Too soon, μικρή κυρία. I don't give things out like that. What I would like to know is why you believe me. I am here for a reason after all."

I smiled warmly at him and shake my head and whisper what I have to say. "That's not true. You and I both know that what you told the hospital isn't a delusion. Where you were and from where you escaped from, it exists. I'll never understand why you don't allow me to call Pandora's attention to this. If I did, they could get you out of here and you could start anew."

He scoffed and hugged his lifted knee. "I have nothing to return to. Here, at least, I have some comfort. Here, at least, I know nothing bad will happen. I'm always high from the medicine they give me. As it turns out, I am crazy but not because of what they assume." He began putting the pieces back in order. "I appreciate your offer, but I'll have to politely decline it. I have no intentions on leaving this place anytime soon."

I nod, accepting his answer. "If you ever wish to, in the future, I would gladly vouch for you and will get you out of here."

He gave me a curt nod before waving goodbye at me. "You're getting better at this. I'll look forward to your next visit, dearie." Waving my goodbyes at him, I exited and left the hospital.

I treaded my way towards the sheriff's office where I found the coachman whom, after finishing his lunch, took the reigns and we headed back to Reveille.

That man, whom I only knew as _Skiá, _was not mentally ill as the hospital thought. I had found out about him through some gossip that had traveled from Reveille. By my own volition, I came to figure what all the rumors of 'some crazy guy emerging from the depths' was all about.

When they first told me about his delusions, it hit me right then and there. This man had been swallowed up by the Abyss...and escaped. When I informed Break about my suspicion, he confirmed them that instant. Apparently, he had known of the man for some time and had talked to him about releasing him. But, just like he had done with me, he refused with appreciation of our offer. He really never wanted to come out of there.

Having nothing to return to...huh? I suppose—If I ever lost Leo and Elliot and the rest of them, I wouldn't have anything to do here anymore. I wouldn't matter either. I would simply cease being. So, his reason is valid to some extent at least. I can't decide for him or force him to do something he does not want to. I guess I'll just have to go back to visiting him from time to time to give him some sort of company.

"We're here, Miss." The coachman's call snapped me out from my train of thought and got me to glance around at our surroundings. It was already way in the afternoon when we arrived at Gilbert's vicinity. At leaving, I thanked him and went up to the staircase of the old apartment building to the third floor. Once up on the correct floor, I began hearing a very obnoxious yelling and cursing from the apartment's general direction.

It sounded like a girl's screeching and a lot of things breaking. I heaved a sigh of stress and feel the rumbling of the floor as I catch up to the door and knock. Not much to my surprise, it is Break who opens it with a grand smile on his face while Alice is on the background screeching at him for obvious yet unknown reasons to me.

"Welcome, welcome! We've just gotten to see each other after so long!" he waved me inside as I took the invitation.

"We saw each other this morning," I interject and walk into the living room that overlooked part of the city. On one of the coaches was the little Duke-in-training Oz Vessalius drinking a cup of tea. At seeing me, he left the cup on the table and stood up to meet me. Immediately, I noticed how he barely came to be a few inches higher than my minute five foot one inch.

"You must be Miss Claire which Break spoke of." He sported a sparkling smile and took out a rose from goodness knew where and gave it to me. "What a wonderful name for such an angelic face."

"Y-Yeah, thanks." I took the flower without another word but left it on the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. "I am guessing that the codenames are being thrown away, huh?"

Gilbert sighed as he passed me a cup that he had made. I glanced in and noticed what it was: warm milk and honey. My lips formed a smile as I thanked him and took a small sip of the delicious beverage. But not even the delicious sweetness of it could take my mind out of what _Skiá _had said. A duke that knew more than he did, the oldest of four... I have it at the tip of my tongue but I can't figure it out.

I had ignored Break's talk with Oz so far until he turned to speak to me. "Is what _Skiá_ told you bothering you by any chance?"

All faces turn up to me which I only ignored. The reason he put me in the spotlight was because he hoped I would be flustered by the attention and unintentionally let slip something that I heard from _Skiá._ But I had nothing and I knew that he knew I didn't.

I wasn't even shocked by this point that he knew where I had gone and to whom. "You followed me?"

"Only asked the coachman that took you there," Break corrected me as he threw me a candy that I caught with my empty cup. "You learned anything?"

"Just another lead but I can't really approach it as of now." I stood up and took the strawberry candy out of the cup before unwrapping it and placing it in my mouth. "But for now, I'll stick with being this kid's bodyguard. If anything I have privileges as such."

"Don't get cocky," Break intervened with a little scowl. "Whatever you're playing—"

I raised my hands in surrender and gave him a grin. "I'm only researching. Besides, he gave little to no useful information. Just to ask the oldest of four."

"Oldest...of four?" Oz repeated, obviously a bit lost at our conversation. Giving him an assuring smile, I waved his confusion away before heading for the door.

"Leaving already?" Gilbert asked me just as I touched the doorknob.

"I promised Mrs. Belle I would be home after my mission. I never break a promise." With that I left the apartment and began descending the stairs.

It took me about ten minutes to get to Mrs. Belle's and my home. As I stared at the building, I heaved a sigh and lowered my head. I can't think about disappointing her. If I tell her that I'm leaving, she'll be broken, shattered.

Giving myself no time to chicken out, I went ahead and opened the door. I was met with a pitch dark living room which surprised me. "Mrs. Belle?" I called out walking into the house a little more. Out of nowhere, the lights turned on and many voices called out 'surprise!'. I blinked once, then again, but I just couldn't believe that so many people were here. It was all of the people I had met when I came to live here. "W-What is this?"

"Your farewell and good luck party," Mrs. Belle announced as she stepped forward while a couple of people brought out a cake and tea. The smile on her face was kind but it was saddened.

"But...how did you—"

"That kind man you work with, Xerxes, he came by a couple of days past and broke the news to me. Said that you were sorely needed for something very important. And I understand completely, Tom was the same." She came up to me and tenderly touched my shoulder, "But you aren't Tom, dearie. I believe you'll come out of this and return so we can have tea some other time."

Smiling and blinking my tears away, I nodded and thanked everyone for coming to see me off. We enjoyed the party for a couple of hours before everything started to calm down. By the time night fell, only Mrs. Belle and I remained cleaning the remains of the party. After it was all said and done, she stood with me in the doorway. I stood still while she fixed my cloak one last time. Whatever this job was, it was going to be for the long run and it would take time for me to return.

"It'll be fine, _ma belle_. I will be here when you come," Mrs. Belle reassured me as she finally finished adjusting it. I nod having no words to say much more than a hushed 'goodbye and thank you'. She nodded and hugged me with such strength that it surprised me. I hugged her back trying to fight back my tears that choked me.

Yeah, these were good people. People who even living in this harsh place were kind and tender. And most of all loving. The only time that I've felt part of something even close to a family was with the House of Fianna. Now, I have Mrs. Belle and all these amazing people.

The streetlamps were on as I walked back to Gilbert's place. The sky was a bit darkened, the clouds starting to tumble around the city. It'll probably rain later tonight, so I should get there as soon as I can.

Suddenly, a chill went down my spine and a coldness hit my lungs as the air became denser. I leaned against the nearest wall right under the street light.

"W-What's happening...to me?"

**"You're reacting to a very prominent essence." **

"Essence of what...?"

**"A Chain. One that I haven't smelled the putrid stench of since the Abyss. A very nasty maggot."**

* * *

_**Well, how was it? :3 This one also changed quite a bit compared to the original. Back then was when I was hinged on Black Butler but since I didn't find any other use for the character, I decided to throw it out and start from scratch.**_

_**Skia is, in the least spoilery way possibly, a character that could come back in the future. Either just because of for a good plot-wise reason, haven't really given him much thought yet. But I really liked how he is and how he likes being thought of as demented. When I thought of him, I imagined what Break would have been had he not been taken in by the Rainsworth. So pretty much the darker side without the cynical part x3**_

_**So yeah, that's it for right now. I'm really writing out the chapter with a speed. It's proofreading that's dragging me down cx I've gotta at least get past the Head-Hunter Arc before school starts again for me cuz when that happens, I'll barely have time if any to write, proofread, and upload :b **_

_**But for now that's all there is c: Stay tuned for the next chapter ;D**_


	10. Hymn of the Dead

_**Hello there everyone! I've been writing so much that I have a big surprise for you! :D but it'll have to wait till the end of this chapter :3 **_

_**For now I'll give the thanks:**_

_**-**__**LightandDarkHeart**__**: Haha the Caterpillar x3 true, he does seem like him. Maybe he'll get a habit of smoking if he makes another reappearance. Who knows c:**_

_**-**__**Tris PhantomEvans**__**: Oh thanks! It makes me happy that you're so excited for the next chapter. And really? :o Errors? Don't leave me with the doubt -w- Please, if you remember tell me, that way I'll fix it for prosperity. **_

_**-**__**Rena Talmay**__**: Thanks so so much for the story following! I'm so glad that you want to know more about this story enough to follow it :D**_

_**And now for the chapter ;)**_

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

_**Hymn of the Dead**_

* * *

My legs were getting heavy and my muscles ached so much from running for so long. Chronos had guided me with a frantic speed across the city towards where he said he sensed the Chain. The cold, night air had quickly swept into my lungs and frozen them solid. My face felt frozen and my nose was beyond solid cold.

"Are you sure—it's this way?" I inquired a bit winded just as I turned the umpteenth corner towards the Northeastern bridge that led North.

**"Positive. I could never mistake this smell. So foul and vile."**

"Then—we're close?"

**"We are but I can't know for sure the exact location."**

Really?! I stopped for a much needed breather putting my hands on my knees and taking short, spastic inhales. "You're—leading me—nowhere!"

**"I know but he's here, Claire! I can't be wrong!"**

Just then a boyish voice that I couldn't forget if I wanted to rose in the air alerting me of its presence not far from me. "Wait, Echo-chan!"

What did surprise me a bit was the frail yet frigid voice that answered Oz's tired request, "Just Echo!" This time their voices and breath was much closer than before and I noticed now that they were beneath me, on the lower part of the bridge.

Glancing down, Oz and a girl in a blue and white dress that seemed strangely familiar were catching up to where I was. Taking a cold, deep breath I yelled out to get Oz's attention. He turned but instead of stopping he called out, "Oh, Claire! Sorry! Can't talk!" Before they could leave me behind, I trailed after them already tired as hell. I had no idea why he was chasing her but he was a persistent little bugger. It wasn't until the girl jumped off from the higher bridges we reached that he stopped shocked. At looking down, we saw that she was straddling a little kid of maybe eleven on the floor, the kid obviously terrified.

God, we finally stopped then and when we did, I felt my side burning. It was my wounds. I'm beginning to think that I should have listened to Break and Sharon and rested before leaving the safety of my room.

"Mr. Benefactor," she spoke with that same frigid voice from before. "I think you are gravely mistaken. This child is not the Contractor." My eyes widened at hearing that word. So these two were searching for an Illegal Contractor? A great ruckus startled both of us for it came from the other side of the street. I turned around trying to think what I could do. Leaving Oz was out of the question, he was in peril out here after all if an Illegal Contractor was out free. "You mean—" Oz's little muttering made me come back to listening to the girl.

"In other words," she clarified while tilting her head slightly. "It is not this child that holds the contract. It's...his father."

Both Oz and I ran down the stairs coming to both the girl, Echo I suppose, and to the little boy.

"Are you okay, Phillipe?" Oz asked when he picked up the kid while I held onto Echo who wanted to leave since she had 'no more use for the boy'.

"Yeah," he answered with a nod as well.

Oz then turned to me with a perplexed expression on his face. "I thought you were going back to Gil's to meet us."

"I was but I was alerted of an Illegal Contractor that was amok near here," I explained while holding Echo's sleeve while she murmured 'Please, let go' a couple of times.

"You too? Echo-chan said the same thing," Oz added getting a little bit more confused by the second. "But..." he grimaced at slightly catching the boy on his peripheral.

"This kid's father, you know where he is?" Oz's eyes landed on me as if confused that I didn't ask anything else about the two familiars. I had no reason to though. The more attached I became, the less capable I would be of doing my job correctly. One of the many lessons that Break beat into me, literally.

"He is not far," Echo called snapping her hand free from my grip. But before she could run away again, Oz caught a hold of her sleeve stopping her in her tracks. "Please, let go." She was being so polite but her tone was a bit repressed at best, acerbic at worse.

"Wait. I want to come with you to where that Chain is," Oz exclaimed with a clear voice and every intent of going.

I, however, had no intent on letting him. "There's no way that I'm letting that happen. You are unarmed. Without Gilbert or Alice, you can't fight a Chain."

"Even so—" his sentence was cut short when we were all taken aback by the sudden sobbing that we began hearing behind us. At turning, we saw Phillipe crying out.

"Phillipe?" Oz muttered softly, clearly concerned about the boy.

"Mister," the tears glistened down his cheeks while he talked through his heavy sobs. "Do you think something happened to my dad? Dad, he...hasn't been home since three days ago. But that's normal, though. It happens a lot. Hey—Dad's coming home, right?" The crying became a little more desperate as he spoke the last words, "I...don't want to be alone."

Poor thing. But regardless of how I felt, there wasn't much we could do. As an Illegal Contractor, his father would someday—

"It's okay." I barely caught the glimpse of Oz passing me to reach the boy and hold him by his shoulders. "I will...definitely bring your father back!" Without another word to the boy, he turned to me and nodded. I sighed before calling to Chronos for directions.

"Up front," I repeated as he told me where to go. "On the Northern bridge." He nodded and the three of us—Oz, Echo, and myself— headed towards the bridge. At reaching it, I could feel the power that was coming from the wild Chain. It wasn't a Trump, that was for sure. Not with this significant amount of power.

**"No, this is that no-life maggot."** Just as Chronos told me that, we came up to the edge of the bridge to see Gilbert and Alice facing a giant worm. It was putrid and disgusting. That I already hated bugs wasn't helping much to the situation. **"It's Grim."** Without warning us, Echo went ahead and charged the thing from our place prompting Oz to call out to her with worry.

Gilbert cried out for Echo to stop and I agreed. That thing seemed to be a bit much for someone who seemed to rely on body strength alone. Instead of listening, though, she got smashed through an alley way. As repercussion, the other side of the maggot turned and hit our bridge making it crumble and collapse.

"Shit!" I hissed under my breath. Oz was way too far from my grip!

**"Hold on!"** Without my word or say, Seiren appeared and encircled me completely burying me in the countless rubble that fell atop. Engulfed by complete darkness, my breathing was starting to become heavy as I tried and failed to remain calm. **"You have to get out of there!"**

"I know!" I yelled trying not to panic much more. I couldn't deactivate Seiren or I would be crushed. The rubble needed to get moved away from me so I could crawl out at least. Instead, I kept Seiren and summoned another under my breath, "Legion!" The spear appeared in my hand but become stuck on the floor from the lack of space. But all I needed was for it to touch the floor. With that I summoned the others and destroyed the rocks completely but, unfortunately, Seiren alongside them. It wouldn't disappear but it would be awhile before I could summon a broken Hour again and it also consumed great energy of my own to let it fix.

Finally having some space to breath, I crawled out and onto my knees on the street. In the few minutes that had passed, Alice was on the floor, pinned down near Phillipe's father. Gilbert was out cold, from helping Oz I presumed. And Oz was nearing the man while holding his injured arm.

"What in the hell?"

**"That brat. He was able to single-handedly nullify B-Rabbit's powers into submission."**

As Oz came closer, the man finally snapped and took out a gun from behind him and shot at Oz. But from shaking so much, he missed by a thin margin, thankfully.

"Oz, run!" I yelled alongside Alice. The man shot more rounds and most missed except for the last one that merely scratched Oz.

"Damn!" Raising and ignoring the pain that my body was in, I began running towards him to get him away from the gun's range.

"Do it, Claire!" Alice yelled at me as I passed her.

_"That is as far as you will go."_

A sudden weight took over me and pulled my whole body to the ground making me hit my face on the dampened streets. As much as I tried to get back up and stop them, the forceful weight would increase sticking me to the ground. Even my breathing was becoming labored yet I got a strain through greeted teeth, "You're..."

_"Leave him be, __**edera.**__" _That last word that he had said held some accent to it. It wasn't our language and even when I didn't understand it, it made the blood rush to my cheeks in embarrassment. _"You will understand once he says what he needs to."_

**"Claire! Why did you stop!?"**

"Claire!" Alice exclaimed trying to get me up just like Chronos tried to.

But no matter how much I tried to get myself back up, his words and, more to the point, that immense power was pushing me back down. Using what strength I could, I yelled out to them both, "I can't move! He won't let me..."

Had it not been for my arms holding my upper body up, I wouldn't be able to witness what happened next. Oz was just...beyond livid. From the way that he spoke to Phillipe's father, the raw emotion that came just from his voice was so extreme that it sent chills through me. The boy that had smiled when we met, the one that seemed so cheerful and full of life was now just—different. He wasn't the Oz I met. Or maybe...I hadn't really met the real Oz at all. Perhaps this boy right in front of me— that was so angry at the man that left his son, that was so emotional at knowing that the man had left the boy all alone—this was the real Oz. He wasn't all smiles and cryptic answers like Break had seen. No, he seemed much more...or perhaps less than that.

Human.

From behind Alice and I, I heard Gilbert's voice grumbling awake. "Gil!" I yelled his way but my voice was drowned by his own baritone voice calling out Oz's name. But instead of moving out of the way, Oz stood before the man getting in the gun's trajectory.

"Don't shoot!"

...

Silence. No, not silence. A ringing in my ears persisted without me noticing. It left me deaf for a few seconds before I began to fully process the whole scene that had occurred in mere seconds.

Phillipe's father had fallen on the cobblestone street, dead. He had been shot. Oz had turned about with a perplexed and shocked expression on his face. Out of the blue, a wave of energy went through me and left me feeling lighter than ever. Getting up and glancing down, I noticed the pressure from before had left both Alice and I. When someone had begun screaming, all I saw was Gilbert running to Oz and trying to return the seal on B-Rabbit's power.

But the little runt was ruthless, he didn't want to be touched by him, that much was evident.

"Why? Why did you shoot him?!" Oz yelled out to him. "That person was—"

"I didn't shoot!" Gilbert finally snapped at him grabbing him forcefully by the shoulders and making him calm down. At last, he repeated the same thing to clarify to him what he had said, "I didn't shoot him."

"I did."

That voice... Stumbling back on my feet, I held my abdomen while turning to where the voice had come from. The rain was making it somewhat blurry to see but I wouldn't be able to mistake that man no matter what.

Those heterochromatic eyes that I would never get used to stared back at me as empty as could be but a fake smile was plastered on his face. I grimaced and heard what he said about 'saving' Oz from the illegal contractor.

"It was inevitable, right?" he spoke nonchalantly with a cocked grin and the gun still held in his hand.

I came up to Alice as I helped her but her glare was on Echo who only gave us a blank stare. "Are you all right?" I whispered to her trying to see if she had any injuries.

Slapping my hand away, she never faltered with her glare. "I'm fine."

"Vince, is your carriage nearby?" Gilbert began inquire from Vincent. When he answered that it was and that he would let us use it, we didn't take long to arrive at the Rainsworth's Mansion.

All of us, no exceptions, were soaked to the bone and cold. Sharon gave me one of her night gowns to wear while I remained with them and a towel to dry my hair with. I had to stay seeing as Gilbert didn't want to relate much of what happened to her. So instead Vincent and I were left with the task to tell her what had occurred while we had gone out to search for Grim.

Once done, Sharon admitted to have understood the basics of what had happened at least. Vincent apologized for being intrusive at such time but Sharon said she didn't mind. Since Gilbert didn't want to go back to the Nightray Household, we had to come back here since it was the closer than his house. But either way, neither him nor I wanted to be seen back in that house so I understood and thanked him wholeheartedly.

"So this is where you have been hiding all this time, Miss Claire?" His voice was very nonchalant as he spoke my name. Frankly speaking, hearing him say it just creeps me out.

"There were matters that I had to attend to, Master Vincent," I answered just as frigidly back but didn't dare make eye contact with the guy.

"Is that so?" he replied with a chuckle as he towel dried Echo's hair. "You know, Elliot and Vanessa have been quite concerned about your well being. Despite what happened, they do miss you, you know? I never thought you so cold as to leave them behind without a word."

"With all due respect, Master Vincent, it does not concern you." And without another word, I left the room having done my job there.

I had fully intended to go back to my room and rest for what was left of the night but I was caught off guard when I saw the dim light that escaped from underneath the door to one of the rooms. Coming closer to it, I began hearing the murmured voices of Alice and Oz. Although I couldn't decipher what they were talking about, I could tell that it was them. This must have been the room where Gilbert had placed them at. I leaned a hand upon the door intending to open it and go inside to the little guy. He must be devastated about what happened to Phillipe's father. After all, he couldn't keep his promise.

And even though I knew this was bound to happen, his words somehow gave me...hope.

"Is something the matter?"

I jumped out of surprise at hearing Break's voice behind me. He stood there with his Pandora uniform on and a lit candelabra on his head. Gulping down the nervous wreck he found me as, I composed my expression and lowered my voice.

"I think it horrible what he just went through. And admit that even someone as weird as him can be shaken about something like this." I glanced over my shoulder and pursed my lips, "I suppose I am a bit too."

"What has been one of the first few lessons I taught you?" he asked me with a finger on my nose. "Never get involved emotionally or otherwise—"

"It mentally fucks you over, right?" Glancing at him, I see him grimace a bit at my use of profanity. Yeah, he never liked that about me. "Or something along those lines." Heaving a sigh, I put my hand on his shoulder before telling him, "I know. I can't help it...I am human. Feeling empathy is normal."

"It's a weakness," Break added brushing my hand away from him. "But give it time, you'll learn by yourself soon enough."

"Really? You're just gonna leave it up to chance for me to be taught?" I asked a bit skeptical and playful at his choice of words.

"Nothing's ever left to chance," he replied poking my forehead as he began to leave.

"Then what the hell's it left to?" I murmured under my breath but ultimately ignored his cryptic comment. Instead, I headed on towards my room. Once there, I tried calming myself down so I could rest but that was easier said than done.

My head was hurting from all the commotion from this evening. Not only that but the events kept replaying in my head. The most recurrent was of Phillipe crying and wanting to have his father back. Reaching to my chest, I clenched at it wanting to relieve the aching that had come to it. As much as I'd like to deny it, I understood him. When you're alone...your whole world just shatters.

_...hehe..._

My head snapped about at hearing a faint laughter. I went over to the balcony door but noticed that there was no one there or anywhere near my room. Just as I was coming back to my bed, though, I heard it again.

_...hehehe..._

"Who's there...?" I whispered trying to see beyond the faint candlelight that was lit on the bedside table. I held my head that had began to hurt like hell. Without noticing, I walked over to my dresser and glanced at the oval mirror that stood hanged on the wall. In the faint light, I could see my reflection and just how tired I really was. Surely, I must be imaging stuff being so tired.

_"No, you're not~"_

My eyes widened at hearing that voice much clearer now and noticed that a dark, shadowy hand had crept out of the mirror. Looking up, I didn't see my reflection anymore but instead saw a hazy black figure that seemed to be my own. However, it's eyes were shinning red beads while a creepy wide grin spread on its face. The darkened hand had suddenly grasped my left wrist in an iron grip. As frantic as I was, I couldn't shake it off. And dread was quickly creeping on me.

_"Hey, would you come play with me...?_

I was left speechless until the black hand and everything else turned as vibrant a red as its eyes and splashed about yet still holding me. Drowned in panic, I grabbed the first thing that I had in my reach and yelled.

_**"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

* * *

At hearing the bone-chilling scream followed by the sound of shattering glass, Oz, Gilbert, and Alice turned their heads towards the general direction.

"That sounds like—" and before he finished, he had already run for the door with Alice and Gil behind him. Gilbert, however, had outrun him and gotten to the room first. At seeing what happened there, he turned about and stopped Oz and Alice from coming any closer to the room. "Wait! Gil, what happened?"

"That voice," Alice called out trying to reach out an take a peek. "Seaweed head, that was that Chronos girl, right? What happened to her?"

But before Gil had time to explain and calm them down, Break and Sharon had appeared running after hearing the screams.

"What in the world is happening?" Sharon exclaimed, worried sick.

Break, however, instead of asking, walked past the rest of them and into the room. He could hear the ruckus the other three were making but he tried his best to ignore it as he took everything that was in the room in.

What caught his attention foremost was the scene that he witnessed before him once inside. The floor stained with a trail of fresh, crimson blood that connected the shattered mirror and something that stood at the opposite corner of the room.

But at giving it a closer look, it was actually from the mirror that the blood had come from and was even dripping from some parts of the broken mirror. Ignoring the mirror for the time being, he went over to the small bundle that cradled itself against the corner. He found Claire there, curled up in fear with her eyes shut tight, hyperventilating, and her right hand holding tightly to her left which was gravely cut around the palm and fingers.

Reaching towards her slowly, he called out her name but with no response. The only reply given was when he barely touched her and she flinched, sinking deeper into her made-up haven. She was petrified. Not caring what she would say or think, he quickly gathered her up in his arms and took her away despite her constant flailing and the others' yells for explanation. Without another word, he took her to Sharon's room with her just behind him. Before Oz and Alice could go and follow them, Gil stopped them in their tracks.

"What happened with her?!" Oz exclaimed more than sick with worry.

"That's...blood? She's bleeding?!" Alice called out sniffing the air and noticing the drops that followed behind Break's wake. Slipping out of Gilbert's hold, she scurried inside the room and her eyes widened at seeing the wreckage it had become. "What happened here?"

Oz came in followed by Gil and went over to something that caught his attention. Bending down, he picked up a hairbrush that was covered in glass shards and drenched in blood. Glancing up, he caught what little, distorted reflection the mirror gave. "She...did it on purpose? But...why?"

Meanwhile, Break had left Claire inside Sharon's bathtub to tend to what had happened while the younger girl tended to her with no help. Sharon had opted so rather than asking for any of the maids' help seeing how terrified the poor girl was. Once that heavy ordeal was dealt with, and her left hand injuries were properly bandaged, Sharon helped her dress with one of her nightgowns and walked with her out into her bedchamber. There, she brought her up to her bed and laid her down. Placing her head on Sharon's lap, the younger girl gently brushed her hair with her fingers, soothingly.

She didn't want to say anything but Sharon could feel how fervently Claire was still shaking from her fear and how her grip had seceded from her shawl. It took a good half an hour but she had gotten Claire to fall asleep.

"Has she fallen asleep?" Break's quiet whisper was barely heard by Sharon who lifted her head from Claire's sleeping form. Helping her lay her on the bed properly, Sharon nods as the girl softly snores and tosses in her sleep.

"At least, it seems so," Sharon answered while getting up to sit down on her chair next to her dresser. She turned up and frowned at Break. "What happened in there? She seemed—no, acted so terrified."

"There's no signs of a break in or of a second party intrusion," Break explained while taking out a candy and playing around with it. "Although the mirror of her dresser was broken, all evidence points that it was her that broke it. It would also explain the injuries to her left hand."

Sharon nodded slowly as she went to glance at the sleeping girl. "But a mirror?"

"I know it sounds odd but it is what I could conclude from what happened," Break replied to her questioning voice. "If anything did scare her, I'd like to know what. Because..." his eyes darted a bit towards the sleeping girl as well. "Whatever did was so petrifying that what I saw in her eyes was...simply nothing I could describe."

_Le'veiru garvelio no zuro_

_Ichi kaedio_

_I l'una kuru so_

_Rei voz lea catio _

_**Heehee...**_

_**Ready or not...here I come.**_

* * *

_**Well how was that? I'm planning to do a triple upload probably since I have so much pre-written but not proofread. But that won't take long.**_

_**Now as reference, I'll have some translations to the language used. It's made up, just because I needed something that sounded not like any other. I do use sounds of other languages I know or semi-know, like French, Spanish, Japanese, and sometimes Greek. **_

_**Ref.:**_

_- edera__**: lovely**_

_- Le'veiru garvelio no zuro / Ichi kaedio / I l'una kuru so / Rei voz lea catio __**:**_  
_**Beyond the gray fields / Each sunset past / When the moon yields /Passage to our path**_

_**I'll try and remember to do this every time I use those words. So for now until shortly x3**_


	11. Between Love and Hate

_**Well since I really have little thanks to give beside to the super awesome people who're with me right now for the triple upload how about we get on with it? ;D**_

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

_**Between Love and Hate**_

* * *

The instant my eyes fluttered open and the sunlight hit my field of vision, I groaned audibly. Hiding my eyes behind my arm, I tried getting myself out of my grogginess. After a few seconds, I realized that I wasn't even in my room but in Sharon's. How the hell...?

Sitting up and holding my head, I tried hard to remember how I had ended up here. What I last recall from last night was leaving after we arrived here with Vincent and Echo. I even talked to Break about how I felt in concerns to Oz. And then I went to my room to sleep.

So...what happe—

A painful ringing came to my head when a faint memory of a girl's voice singing came to me. The words weren't in our language. They sounded strange too. Yet somehow, I think I understood what they meant.

Shaking the uneasiness, I got up and walked to my room to change. Once done, I met with Sharon and Break up at her parlor like always. But when I came and greeted them, they simply stared a bit odd.

"Is...is something the matter?" I inquired a bit thrown off by that.

Sharon shook her head and gave me a warm smile. "G-Good morning, Claire." I went on to sit with them but the instant the sunlight hit my eyes again I felt an irritating pain. So much so that I reluctantly raised my arm to block it and apparently got noticed my Break.

"Feeling all right?"

"Y-Yeah. My head hurts is all. Probably a migraine," I explain before digging into the spare breakfast they got used to getting me. "By the way, how come I slept in Sharon's room?"

Both turned towards each other as if silently debating whether to tell me or not. I tried figuring out why they didn't want to tell me in the first place but by mere face expressions it was hard to. Sharon was the first to speak and break the silence. "You mean you don't remember what happened last night?"

I shook my head as an answer. "Why? What happened?"

They shared stares one more time before returning to normal with Sharon giving me another smile. "Would you like seconds?"

"Oh, sure!" I called out enthusiastically holding my plate out as the maids came into the room and restocked the table with more food and sweets.

"On another note, would you like to accompany me for a walk around town?" Break's sudden and out of the blue question caught me off guard with my fork and food in my mouth.

"With you? How come?" I questioned with my mouth full.

"He'll be going to search for Oz-sama and the others," Sharon explained and briefly told me about the story of going to look for Gilbert's hat. "But it's if you would like to go with him."

I shrugged my shoulders and agreed and before the hour came, we left and were in the middle of the streets of Reveille looking for a loud group of kids.

As we walked, I kept trying to recall what had happened last night all the while following Break around. All the time, I had my eyes down watching my feet as I walked.

"You _do_ remember something about last night, don't you?"

My head snapped upward with my eyes wide open at Break's comment. I blinked a couple of times before understanding what he was talking about. Unconsciously, I smiled; nothing got past this man. "I don't remember exactly what happened but I do remember a song."

"Song?" he repeated curious, resuming his walking as did I.

I nod before starting to say the words I heard to him. Somehow as I spoke them, I became aware that my voice became a bit higher and I found an accent to it that I hadn't been aware I had or why I used it when speaking those words. After telling him that, I glanced downwards, "I know somehow that it talked about gray fields at sunset, and a moon leading to some path." Shaking my head, I massaged my forehead as the headache increased. Without warning, I stopped briefly as I spoke. "I don't know why I understood them but I did."

"That is interesting." Break stopped briefly to glance over his shoulder towards me and gave me a faint grin. "I'll look into it when I have the time." Nodding my head as answer, I gave him a small smile as thanks.

Out of the blue, I felt something grab me by my arms as it clutched me in a tight grip. Letting out a shout and getting Break's attention, I manage to squeeze out one of my arms and reach towards Break's extended one. Yet, before either of us could reach, a darkness swallowed me whole making me lose all semblance of my surroundings.

Describing what I felt when going through that void is hard. I couldn't breath, couldn't move, couldn't scream. All I could do was hold my breath as nothingness crushed me. But just as soon as it had gotten me, it let go and I fell onto hard, tiled floors.

Air came to me when I took in a deep breath. Rolling over on my stomach, I stood up slowly as I quickly took in my surroundings. It was so...colorful. Almost fantasy like. There were so many toys and flowers and other crazy stuff. All distorted. Wherever I had been taken to, I knew it wasn't in the human realm anymore.

"Where am I?" I whispered slowly turning about and grasping every bit of space about me. The only other way to go was through a door up ahead while everything else was barricaded by those toys and flowers.

**"Cheshire's lair."**

"Cheshire?"

**"The Cheshire Cat. I don't really know much about him but from what I've heard he is somehow connected to the Will of Abyss."**

"Then...maybe he could give us some answers about that too." From behind me, I begin hearing some shuffling and turn to find the flowers and toys starting to move. Teeth showing and claws out, they were heading towards me and fast.

**"Run!"**

Not thinking twice about Chronos' advice, I headed for the door that laid before me. Running with all I had and with all the might I possessed, I yanked the door opened and closed it right behind me. It wasn't long before I began hearing the noises of the things on the other side starting to bang against the door.

**"There's stairs up. Head that way. I'll hold the door close for as long as I can."**

"Please do!" I call and let go of the door that stays barely closed. Running, I head and slightly trip up the spiral staircase that seemed to go on forever. But soon enough it ended leaving me on open space before yet another door. A double door, this time.

"No going back, I suppose," I murmur under my breath and push one side open letting me into another room. This one took me a bit by surprised. The walls were nothing but mirrors, all from ceiling to floor and of a certain width defined by gold-rimmed frames. "This needs a serious makeover."

_Le'veiru garvelio no zuro_

_Ichi kaedio_

_I l'una kuru so_

_Rei voz lea catio_

The singing caught me off guard and made me turn towards one of the many mirrors that covered the walls. This one, though, wasn't showing my reflection like the rest. Instead what I could see through it were the faint shapes of two young children in the distance holding hands and dancing around while chanting that melody. The same one that I had heard last night...from that thing that freaked me out.

Without really knowing why my hand reached out towards them. I have know idea why but I wanted to reach them. To be with them. They looked...so happy.

"You're that girl."

The slightly purring voice made my hand flinch and my whole body pivoted to find a tall figure crouching before me. Apparently having climbed from the ceilings, it stood up tall letting me see that it stood a good foot taller than I. As I looked at this thing, I saw the cat ears and tail along with the freaky red eye that reminded me of something.

"You...must be Cheshire," I assumed a bit nervous of suddenly meeting him. In the distance, I could still hear the kids singing the song and it seemed he could too for his ears kept twitching back and forth.

"That was the song you and that boy would sing all the time. Cheshire remembers Alice saying that she wanted to play with you both. That cursed merry-go-round."

"Cursed?"

"You must not remember." His glance lowered as if in thought and came up once again as he began to lick his paw. "That man did something to your memories after all. Because of that boy."

"Boy?" Even though that was the only thing that got out of me and I still had much else to ask, I had no time to for strange, cold hands grabbed me from behind and began pulling me backwards into the mirror.

"You don't matter to Cheshire. You'll be eaten by your own past soon enough." His ears twitched once more. "It seems Cheshire has new guests too." With that he disappeared amidst his ribbons and I was left to be swallowed whole by the morphing glass.

Once inside, I felt my feet touch ground and my nostrils caught the whiff of the nice summer flowers. From what I could gather, I wasn't in Cheshire's lair exactly. I was in the outside, a patch of grass bordered by forest on one side and by a lake on the other. The wind blew and I had to catch my hair from being blown into my face as petals came from the cherry blossom trees planted nearby. I reached my hand to touch one but it slipped from my hand. No, it didn't slip. I couldn't touch it. Bending down and reaching for a pebble, I reassure my assumption. I couldn't touch it. Even though I can feel it with every other sense, I couldn't touch anything around here.

A bundle of giggling took my attention off my discovery and made me turn towards the lake were the two children from before were now sitting down near a flower bed.

Walking up close to them, I noted how they paid no attention to me and how even though I was this close to them I still couldn't make out the boy's face. But the girl...it was way too clear for me to mistake it anymore.

Those dark, shinning cobalt eyes. That mess of straight ebony strands. That high-pitched voice.

It was me.

But, then again, it wasn't. This must be...the me I don't know about. The one I forgot about.

"Here you go!" The little girl let lose a rain of flowers at the boy who giggled at her as she sat down before him. "I brought all of them!"

"Nice." That soft, somewhat high-pitched voice was new. But what I found if the slightest bit familiar was the tiniest tinge of a lilt to his voice. "What color do you want yours?" he asked while picking a couple of flowers and beginning to put them together by their stems.

"I want them the same color as yours!" she chirped immediately throwing her hands up. With a laugh, he began working on it and within minutes finished it and held it up.

"All done." He reached out and gently placed it a top the girl's head.

She took some more flowers and began making another one. She giggled at the bit of a mess hers was compared to the boy's and showed it to him. "This one's for you." She reached up and placed it a top of his. At her doing that, it made something on her dress gleam in the sunlight.

What the—

Then I saw it. That girl...she had my broche on the ribbon of her light pink dress. And that boy...he had a similar one attached to his own clothes. Yet his was of a sapphire color.

"Found you!" A man called out cheerfully, startling me, while picking both kids up from their waists with them chuckling gleefully. "We've been looking all over for you two."

That voice... It was that man. The same one from Alice's memory and the one that had stopped me from stopping Oz with Grim.

"Sorry we didn't tell anyone," the boy answered with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah! We just wanted to have a little fun!" the girl replied with joy.

The man laughed at their replies and simply placed them down to face him. "Well, some fun never hurt anyone. But how about we head back now?" Giving his hand out towards them, they each went to either side of him and held onto his hand. "You two are such a handful—"

_"Claire and Cloude."_

Out of nowhere, a bright, blinding light took over my sight making me close them and hide them from it. Once I felt it gone, I opened my eyes but was surprised that my surrounding had changed. I wasn't in that flower bed anymore. I was in another garden. It was familiar in a way as well. It seemed to be the one that Break had described to me, the one that he said Oz and the rest of them had seen in the old mansion.

"You're here safely."

That deep voice made me turn on my heel towards it. And when I did, this time, it didn't go away. Instead what faced me, was a man sitting on the parapet of an outdoor hall. He reminded me a lot of Oz; golden hair in a plait and bright, emerald eyes. What made me even more wary was that the pocket watch that he held was the same one that Oz had and that the melody it played was the same one I had heard drifting in my room that day at the Nightray's.

He closed the watch and stood up with a gentle smile. "I'm glad, you didn't get hurt."

Out of habit, I took a stance ready to attack if necessary. For all I knew this could be another illusion by Cheshire's place. "Who're you?" I demanded through gritted teeth.

He chuckled a bit which somehow made me feel a bit embarrassed to have done that. "You've become somewhat ruthless, I see."

Ignoring the giddiness he provoked on me, I barked out my question this time. "Answer me!"

Not seeming fazed one bit, he made eye contact with me and smiled. "My name is Jack. Jack Vessalius."

"Jack...Vessalius?" He had Oz's name. But...why? I didn't understand any of this. Instead of showing my confusion, I built a wall that kept me strong and collected on the outside. "You're the man from before and the one from that dream I had about that little girl."

"You're still talking in third person." He began walking towards where I was making me step back each time. But for some reason, I didn't want to walk away. I yearned his touch. When he finally was close enough, he reached out and placed his hand on my head, patting it soothingly. With that one movement, all wariness escaped me. I was left vulnerable and bare. Like the child I had seen so happy, my heart suddenly was filled with warmth. "Why can't you accept that the little girl that was so happy back then, was you, Claire?"

At that, I slapped his hand away and stepped back while glaring at him. "You're wrong!" I bellowed out at him with his expression just becoming a bit more calm. "I may not know who I am but that's not me! I've never had a family, much less a brother!"

His face sullen with that and his eyes darted downward. "That would be because of my doing."

"W-What?"

He came closer to me until he stood face-to-face but I was too stunned by what he had said to do anything about it now. "Cloude, he was heading down a perilous path. And he intended to drag you down with him. That's why I had to protect you. If I hadn't you would have ended just like them. That wasn't something I could allow to happen. So I ended up shielding you by erasing those memories; unlinking the chains."

"No!" I yelled with all my might. This was crazy! Insane! He was wrong! "That isn't me! That isn't my life! My life's always been what I know and the people I've lived it with! Leo, Elliot, Vanessa, Break, Sharon, Gil, Oz, and Alice!"

"That hole that has existed in your heart for eight years— have you never wondered the reason why I gave you both those broches?"

I remained quiet as all the information sunk in but I didn't seemed to have time since everything suddenly shook making me stumble a bit. "What's happening?!" It shook again and this time brought me to my knees.

"B-Rabbit's powers are being released." B-Rabbit's? So, Oz and Alice are here! "Oz must have lost it from witnessing such scene. But, hopefully, Gil will be able to stop Oz and his tirade." With that, he came and knelt before me, a few meters away. What took me completely by surprise was that he came up and held my head against his shoulder and began to stroke my head. "Before that...I need for you to remember something. The reason why I had to protect you from him."

"W-What..." I stammered a bit feeling my heart at my throat and my cheeks hot as I listened to his words and his quiet, strumming heartbeat.

"I will warn you, what you are about to see won't be easy for you and it isn't with any pleasure that I am doing this. Whatever happens, don't let that darkness swallow you whole or you'll lose yourself to it. What I am about to show you— it is the last memory you had of Cloude and yourself. After all this, tell Oz and the others what you saw." The floor trembled again making me flinch. To this, he only chuckled a little. "Don't worry, I'll have you home safe and sound. All you have to do is not lose against that darkness and all will be well. After all—" he took me by my shoulders and made me face him. Briefly from behind him, I caught a glance of Chronos in his original form curling his tail around the gem that began gleaming red. But my attention quickly returned to see his own gleaming emerald eyes. "Edea left you and Cloude to my protection."

Suddenly, my eyes were shrouded by darkness and silence. In seconds, it all changed and brought me away to a new scenario. When my senses caught sight and whiff of the place, I had to hold back from heaving. Blood was sprayed everywhere, along with entrails and other innards of humans. Fire scorched the whole building as it quickly fed from the despair inside. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Everyone was...dead.

"Cloude!"

I didn't have to even glance over my shoulder to see who had called out that name before my younger self—surely the age I was when I came to Fiona's care—darted past me with a dark, red cloak cladding her and swaying about in her sprint. Light formed her body and danced around her as she ran. I couldn't tell where she would lead me but I wasn't about to stand around here another second. Trying really hard not to think where I was stepping, I ran after her.

She was yelling out the boy's name and checking every room in the burning down place. No matter who she would stumble upon, may they have been dead or the ones killing, she would ignore them and keep searching.

Finally, after what seemed forever, she pried open a heavy double door into yet another common room and inside found whom she had so frantically searched for. Yet not the way she wanted to.

"Cloude!" she caroled in joy with tiny tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She ran up to him and didn't recognize anything else as she spoke to him. "Thank goodness! When the earthquake hit I came looking for you. And when all I found were people dead...I was worried sick about you. Hurry! We have to find Jack and the others and leave. This place is aflame!" She tried pulling his arm for him to move, but he wouldn't budge an inch. Just then she looked at him completely and gasped at seeing him covered in sputters of blood. Fresh blood. At that, she noticed that he hadn't been looking at her, he was staring down. Following his gaze, she gasped once more and let go of him to put her hands on her mouth to keep from screaming. Those big, round eyes widened at seeing what the boy was looking at. And truth be told, so had mine.

Before him were a couple of corpses. I could tell they had been just killed because they were still gushing out with blood. What had shocked both of us was that the basket hilt sword he held in his hand was pierced on a young child's throat, beheading them. "C-Cloude..." she whimpered a bit grabbing the boy's blood-stained sleeve. "W-We have to leave."

"There's no use. It won't change anything." He turned to leave but she had stopped him in his tracks by holding her hands over the one of his that held the sword.

"What's happening?!" she shouted making him turn towards her. The empty glare in his eyes made even me flinch.

"We have been given orders. Master said to kill everyone in this town. No matter woman or children."

"But I don't want to kill people!" she cried out shaking his arm. "And you don't have to either!"

"Yes I do!" he yelled startling both of us as his glare suddenly found a target in her. He shook away her grip and stood fully to face her. "If I don't...what happened to mother will happen to you too! I don't care who I have to sacrifice. I don't care how many innocent I have to kill. With this, it will have enough power...I'll have enough power to finish it off. The life of that which steals your own!"

"What are you talking about, Cloude!" she shouted trying to make him come back to his senses.

"You'll see—" he suddenly brought his sword up to a stance. "The sacrifice must be done. And for it all not to be in vain, that power must be returned to the Abyss." Out of the blue, he charged toward her but he didn't have a chance to land a hit because of the field that took the hit instead and drew him back.

Glancing at her now, my eyes widened at seeing her holding a staff in her hands. The staff itself was of a dark color and three heads taller than the little girl. On the top of it was a crescent moon facing upward, and it was cradling a bright white sphere with an eight-point star inside of it from which the light emanated. Three glass tears with the same stars hung around and underneath the moon, each of a different dim lighted color: red, blue, and green.

"Why?!" Cloude bellowed swinging his blade away. "You're nothing but a nuisance, Astrovylia!"

"Stop saying such nonsense!" Claire finally shouted to him. "Astro's the one that protects us!"

"Did it protect us when the village slaughtered mother for treachery!?" he barked out with the more vicious glare ever. "Did it save us from losing her and father! All it has ever done is deny us our happiness and granting us pain!"

"Our mother had her duty! She was the White Sage, Edea Florence!"

"And it was her duty that brought their undoing, my burden, and your curse," he spoke coldly. "But I won't make the same mistake she did. With this, my Christ, I will now bestow judgment and rid you of your inheritance."

"Cloude..." she murmured, brokenhearted as tears stained her small face.

The rage and sadness in his face suddenly vanished and were replaced with an aloof and cold stare that made the little girl flinch. "Kill everyone in this town. Master's orders are absolute." His voice, too, had turned gelid and with no emotion. "I have to make sure that no other sage is born."

"Are you...serious?"

"I never wanted to see you hurt. All I wanted was to see your smiling face, Claire. But..." He held Christ up before his face. "I have an obligation to uphold." Without warning, he charged at her. Instinctively, she brought the staff before her for protection but the moment both collided, a strange energy went about everywhere around them. The dark energy surrounded them and opened a dark void beneath their feet and pulled them both into darkness. And with them, I went along.

Darkness swallowed us whole once more but before long, a warm, bright light shone before my eyes. This...feeling. It must be Jack. With that in mind, I followed the light until I began falling again.

This time, instead of softly landing, I landed on top of a coffee table. That crash hurt my back and ribs greatly. At opening my eyes, I noticed that countless of black petals had been blown about because of my arrival. Not only that but I saw Break who was buttoning his Pandora uniform's jacket in a haste.

"B-Break?"

"Finally, you're here." He called grabbing his scabbard and headed for the door while fixing one of his sleeves. "While you were still absent some things occurred. Must I fill you in?"

"On the way, but you seem to be rather more in a hurry," I reply getting off the table and catching the glimpse of a black knight. "Although—" I quickly bent down to pick it up and clicked my tongue. "I can probably guess what's happening right now."

"I was surprised. Wasn't really expecting you to get out of Cheshire's by your own."

"I didn't," I assured him as he finished changing. "Someone helped me."

"Someone?" he repeated confused.

I waved his confusion away and played around with the chess piece in my hand. "I'll fill you in later. For now, I have to speak to Sharon about something."

"About Milady, would you mind accompanying me? It would seem—" He grabbed the piece out of my hands, "A sewage rat got a hold of her."

* * *

_**Part two of my three chapter upload. I would have uploaded all three in one day but I accidentally fell asleep cx **_

_**But the other chapter won't take long to proofread so hopefully it will come out soon c: So please stayed tuned for that :D**_


	12. Reunion

_**All righty then, if anything this is the last of the trio I'm going to upload. With this I'm up to speed with what I had planned in writing. Just minutes ago I wrote the saddest part I could and it gave me the feels T-T**_

_**Never thought that scene could be any sadder and alas I was proven wrong. **_

_**Now thank you all who have been reading up till now :D I have all you to thank for continuing to support me with this rewritten project!**_

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

_**Reunion**_

* * *

Break didn't waste a heartbeat and quickly guided me through the back garden of what he had now informed me was Pandora Headquarters. I didn't understand why any of us had landed here when we had entered Cheshire's at very distinct places. Break wasn't much help either at explaining since he was so concerned with Sharon's safety. And quite frankly, so was I.

But my nerves were getting to me and they were making me babbler way too much for my own safety.

"Where are we going?" I questioned raising my voice as I followed behind him. "What about Oz and Alice? And Gilbert too!"

"Would you mind shutting your mouth for one second." It surprised me that he had snapped at me and it actually made me jump a bit at that. Regardless of that, though, I agreed to his terms and followed quietly. Finally, he turned to me and shoved me behind some tall foliage startling me with the sudden action. He didn't say a word but he did place a finger on his lips, indicating me to remain silent. I nodded once before he continued on. He went on a few feet, a bit too far since I had to strain to hear the voice that spoke from where I was.

"Hello. You're early."

Vincent?!

"Only this place is planted with black roses in the inner parts of Pandora," Break's voice spoke loud and clear and was far easier to hear. I tried budging through the leaves of the foliage to get a look at what was happening and luckily found a small hole from which I could watch from afar. Vincent was just sitting languidly while cutting off black roses from the bush in front of him. "I have to thank you, Master Vincent. After all, you 'decorated' my room quite splendidly."

Vincent. He must be the sewage rat that he mentioned before. It would be like Break to call him that, now that I think about it. He's never liked him. Neither have I too.

"Let's stop the nonsense and get straight to the point." Break sounded pissed off. "The timing isn't so bad, either. Since Pandora's attention is more focused on Oz, Master Vincent, how about returning Milady Sharon to me."

Vincent chuckled a bit before answering him. "You don't have to be so nervous. I haven't killed her." Saying that, he stood up from his sit and came close to him. "There's just something that I want."

"Sorry." Break grinned disdain towards him. "I doubt there's anything of interest for you that I posses."

Vincent laughed slightly and sent chills down my spine. "Lies. Mister Hatter is such a liar. You snatched it from Cheshire, didn't you? You surely have it—" he suddenly snatched Break's arm that I had seen him fiddling with before. When he pulled it towards him, I heard the jingling of a bell. What the hell was that? "Alice's memories."

"Alice's?!" I whispered a bit louder than I intended. Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me and before I could react I felt the coldness of a steel blade against my throat.

"Speak and it'll be your last." It's that boy. The one from back at the desert. The Baskerville.

"You give me that which you've sought for and want most—" Vincent called catching my attention. "And in exchange, I'll hand over your dear Sharon. How does that sound, Mister Mad Hatter?"

He's extorting Break with Sharon!? That's it. I won't hold back now. Chronos!

**"Got you."**

That instant I felt the hand that held the blade against my throat stiffen for the slightest second. That gave me enough time to push it and him away from me but it also caused me to become exposed. I stumbled on my feet but was caught by Break's back against mine. When I glanced up to face the boy, he had already vanished.

"You don't seem to understand the concept of a stakeout," Break's voice was so full of sarcasm and annoyance that I almost didn't bother to answer.

Almost.

"Well, you can't complain much when you have a knife against your throat, I suppose," I reply with a slight nervous chuckle.

"Ah, Miss Claire." I seriously wanted to puke at him pronouncing my name. It just grossed me out completely. "You're a very sneaky girl, you know?"

Giving a grin his way, I step aside a little from Break. "Now, Master Vincent, are you sure you didn't bite your tongue saying that?"

"Don't fall for the taunts." Break's reminder brought me back to what I was facing and that I couldn't play around with this guy.

"Please Mister Hatter, taunts?" Vincent laughed at Break's apparent misunderstanding. "I would never. I did, however, foresee her interference and have prepared thusly." At saying that, I noticed something charging at me from my peripherals and managed to dodge it by moving back. But apparently that's what they had wanted for me to do since more of the things that had attacked me were now circling me perilously. They were like hounds or wolves but much less...alive. Their skin was hanging on bare bones. Some even had no eyes and had large holes in them. What the hell were they!? "These lovely pets are presents from the one that left. As a reminder that you should always be on your toes. Any hesitance—" one of the wolves launched from behind me and caught the side of my abdomen almost throwing me off balance. "Will cost you."

"Claire!" Break yelled out in concern.

My hands immediately went to the wound. Shit, that thing literally took a chunk out of me! I was trying to put pressure on it but the wound was too large and much too deep for that too work. The warm blood was quickly seeping onto my hands and dripping now my body. In no time flat my vision started to wane and my knees had grown so weak that I couldn't keep standing and fell to the ground barely hanging to consciousness.

Damn, at this rate I wouldn't survive it. I had to stop the bleeding.

"Chro...nos..." the words were barely a hiss as it took so much strength to make his powers work. He didn't answer, or I was already so far off that I didn't hear him but the time around my wound stopped, halting the bleeding as well. But that last bit of power that was keeping me awake disappeared with that one act and left me to be devoured by the darkness that overwhelmed my eyes.

* * *

When I woke up, my head was killing me. I couldn't even inhale without it throbbing achingly. And as I laid in bed trying to lessen the pain, I remembered about Vincent, Sharon, and the attack that happened. That made me jump to a sit but I quickly regretted that choice for a throbbing pain hit my right side and made me hit the bed faster than I could start complaining.

"You shouldn't move so suddenly. You'll reopen your wound." I turned my head at the sudden voice that called to me and watched as Break entered the room that he most likely had placed me in after I fell unconscious. He was dressed in his Pandora uniform but without his coat and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. On one arm, he held towels and he held a jug that seemed to be full of boiling hot water.

With his help, we managed to get me sitting on a chair for him to tend my wounds. My body felt heavy, like wet wool. So, his help was very much appreciated. He told me to raise my shirt to show him my injury and after much debate and hesitance I did as I was told. I noticed for the first time that my abdomen was bandaged and dyed the red of my blood. He undid them and we both stared at what I was sure couldn't be normal.

"Your wounds heal pretty quickly for having been tended only a fore night ago," he commented and dampened the towels in the water. Carefully as he could, he began cleaning away the stains that the dried up blood had left. My skin, still tender, was very sensitive. Plus the water wasn't just tepid. It was boiling and it made it sting that much more.

"What happened with Sharon? What did you do with Vincent? Where are Oz and the others to—augh!" I yelped at him putting too much pressure when cleaning it.

"Let's do one thing at a time." That quieted me for the time it took for him to clean and bandage my abdomen back. Once that was over and I had put my shirt down and returned to sit on my bed, he began explaining what had happened while I had been out cold. "Milady is fine. I managed to take care of her ailment before it worsened and she is currently resting in her chambers. As for the sewer rat, I had no choice but to comply to his demands in exchange for her."

"But Break—" he halted my empathetic remark with his raised hand.

"Don't." He placed the things he used to tend me with aside and continued, "On another note, it would appear that Oz-kun's presence is well known in Pandora now."

"They know he's alive?"

"And kicking. But for now, since he is the descendent of one of the Four Households there's not much being done about his situation. I doubt they'll do anything. At least not as long as Oscar-sama has a say." He sighed and began putting his sleeves down. "Your wounds are cleaned so you should rest."

I glanced down knowing that he was leaving and that I needed to do something. I needed to tell him about what I saw. "Break, wait. I...have something to tell you." It took me sometime but in the end I told him everything that I had witnessed at Cheshire's lair. About Jack. About the little boy Cloude and myself. And about that woman, Edea Florence.

Break simply stood aside listening as I explained everything and only nodded when I finished. "If there is any truth to those events then it could be possible that you and that boy were actually siblings. But what I'm more interested in that woman you mentioned, Edea Florence."

"I do too but I have no idea who she is," I confessed bringing my head down. "But every time I think about her—" I gripped my chest lightly for I was feeling that same thing right as I spoke. "My heart aches."

"Mm," he mumbled but said nothing else until he gathered everything he had brought. "I have some idea as to where to start looking. For now, it is in your best interest to hang on to Alice. It would seem that wherever her memories are, yours are attached to them as well."

"So if I keep seeking out Alice's memories then—"

"You'll find yours by default." He headed over to the door with the used towels and jug. "You should rest for now. It is barely six in the morn, and I have other matters to attend to."

I nod and comply with his request. Just as I see him start to leave I turn towards him, "Break?" He tilts his head towards me letting me know that he was listening. "Thank you for everything." He gave me a quick smile and a curt nod before he left for good leaving me to myself.

Now alone, I went back to laying on my bed and thinking about everything that occurred. But soon enough those same thoughts drove me off into slumber.

* * *

"What the fuck is this!?"

"Relax or your wound will reopen," Break called hitting my head slightly with his hand. " Besides, you are dressed as a proper young lady and that is not proper lady's speech in the least."

"But why the hell am I wearing this?!" I screamed back holding onto the seams of the very short skirt they had put me in. He had called me later that morning for some _emergency_. What that stupid emergency had turned out to be was still a big blank to me but he had coaxed me into this God awful attire for it. It looked like some kind of uniform. It was mostly black and white, and it had a skirt. A fucking skirt. Yeah, if I sounded pissed off it's because I really was.

"Don't worry!" Out of the blue Oz's uncle, Oscar, got me and pulled me alongside with Alice to his side. I couldn't help but grimace for his brusque playing was hurting my injury. "We're going out for an important mission after all!" Again, mission that I had no idea what it was.

But even if I wanted to ask I didn't have time to for he rapidly got us into the carriage on our way towards wherever the hell we were heading. I remained quiet the whole time that he was explaining about some stupid letter from Oz's younger sister, Ada. But the more he dragged on telling us why we were here the more I dreaded hearing the truth. Just then Oz and Gilbert tensed up at hearing the last part of his explanation.

Wait. He was an overprotective uncle. The niece had said she was in love with someone. Ah, shit. Don't tell me...

The carriage stopped before a grand architectural building to which we all exited. Me, not willingly since Alice, who was being pulled around by Oscar, was hauling me around as well.

"We're sneaking into the school!"

"Are you crazy!" I yelled at the old man that brought us out here, dressed like this for this kind of madness.

"Now, now, Claire, calm down. There's no need to get so feisty about it," Oz said soothingly and placing a hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me in vain.

"Calm down, my ass!" I turned to yell in his face making him turn his head away. "Have you any idea what can happen at places like this!? If anything happens to you, Break will have my head in a silver platter!"

"Haha, true huh?"

"Don't 'haha' me, you asshole!"

"Now there," Oscar's arm went around my neck as he held both Alice and I in a death grip. "We have to do this the right way or it won't be romantic."

"Huh?" This man was seriously getting on my nerves.

"We'll get inside through this—a secret passage made by the Vessalius Family!"

"What are you Four Houses even doing with your freaking time!" I bellowed in anger at his playing around.

But nonetheless, he made us go through them and soon enough we found our way up into the school. I couldn't believe this, we were actually breaking into a privately own building! This was a crime all in itself. I was so distracted by my own ranting that I hadn't noticed that Oscar had gotten us spotted. Having no time to think, I ran away anywhere I could to lose the ones that were on our tail.

Soon, I stopped way out of breath and my side burning like the fires of hell. My wounds may heal quickly but that doesn't mean they don't hurt like a mother effing bitch. Once I had caught my breath and was sure that no one had spotted me, I took a look at where I actually had ended up. It wasn't as bad as I first thought. I was at a library and wow, it looked so much bigger than even the Nightray's and Fianna's combined!

Trying to relax for once, I walked down one of the aisles giving a glance at every other book to see what would catch my interest. "Oh." The whole shelves further in...they were filled to the brim with an entire series. Passing my finger across the spine of one, I read the title to myself, "Holy Knight? Oh, that's right."

I remember those books. Elliot loved to read them when we met. The way he talked about them, so fervently, I could swear he was in love with the damn book. I reached out and took a random volume from the shelf and opened it to a random page and read a little. Yeah, this sounded like that story that he kept mentioning to Leo and I back in the orphanage. And what was that servant's name...? Oh yeah, Edgar. Yes, I remember that Elliot hated him so much. Leo actually hated for me to even mention the character's name because it sent Elliot into a ranting frenzy. Mm, I loved seeing him all angry over a fictional thing like that. It amused me for hours on end.

I placed the book back and ran my finger down another volume. The more I glossed over the volumes, the faster my smile disappeared. Soon, I stopped in my skimming and glanced down. It was hard to admit this since it had been me who left but I really miss them: Elliot and Leo.

**"Hey, can you feel that?"**

"Huh? Feel what?" I whisper to Chronos as I continue to wander aimlessly through the library.

**"I can't pinpoint it very well myself but it reeks of blood."**

Unconsciously, I patted my side and grimaced at the reminder. "That would be me."

**"No. This isn't you. It's something else. It's close too."**

With that, I decided to follow as he leaded me outside of the library following this scent of blood that he had caught. He guided me through some more hallways, some where I had to act as natural as I could to avoid being noticed, and finally ended where he said it was more prominent at: a dead end.

"Nice job, genius," I growl with a click of my tongue.

**"Don't criticize! When have I been wrong?"**

"Well, there was that one time when—"

**"Don't answer!"**

I cringed at the loud noise in my head at his screaming. "Don't freaking yell. I can hear you perfectly, damn." Heaving another sigh, I turned to go intending to search for the others. But when I stepped, I felt no ground. And before I could stop myself, gravity had done its work and brought me done the hell hole I had fallen through. I lost all air in my lungs at hitting solid ground after the long fall. Grabbing at my aching side, I got up with more pain than before. At looking up, the little passage that had opened and from which I had fallen was now shut closed. With that being the only light gone, I was now standing in pitch blackness. The hole from which I fell...it must be another one of those secret entrances like the one Oscar used to get us in. I glanced around and I swear I could feel my nonexistent claustrophobia kicking in. The corridors were narrow barely letting me and possibly another walk side by side. But I was alone and to either side of me were open ways to which I could go. But they were all pitch black as well.

**"Claire?"**

"Eek!" I cringed down at the sound and curled into a ball.

**"Claire! What's the matter?"**

"G-Geez! It's only you." Without another word I got up and placed a hand on the wall nearest to me to keep my bearings. "Don't yell out of the blue."

**"Are you...scared?"**

"W-What nonsense are you spouting, you dumbass! I'm not scared!" Saying nothing else, I began hugging the left wall and walking along it. I heard somewhere that if you're ever lost in a maze that if you walked along the left wall you would eventually find the way out. With that in mind, I continued my way with slow and careful steps. Yet, it wasn't really giving me much hope about getting out. No matter how much I walked the darkness didn't fleet. I hated the dark.

I didn't know how much time have passed but it must have been quite some time because my stomach started rumbling. "Shit... I might be a little lost here."

**"A little?"**

"Don't sass me," I reprimand him and he remains quiet for it. Frankly, I would have loved it better had he kept talking. Even if it were nonsense babble. But because of the silence, I clearly caught the sound that suddenly came from somewhere in here. "What was that?"

**"What was what?"**

"That noise?" Keeping that in mind, I went the way from which I heard it. For some reason, my breathing was getting ragged and my throat felt dry. I wasn't feeling up to this anymore. I just wanted to get out of here.

Then I heard it.

"Noisy!"

Oz. It was Oz's voice. He was here... I wasn't alone! My body began moving on its own, mindlessly following after his voice.

**"Hey, Claire!"**

What a relief. I'm not alone. I had to find him. As long as I could find him—anyone!—I would be fine! I wouldn't be alone anymore in this darkness.

Being here was hell. The faintest candlelight showed me a silhouette. Thank God! I just didn't want to be alone anymore. I reached out towards him.

So please...

"Don't leave me alone!" I cried unconsciously and holding onto his arm tightly with both of mine. Not caring if tears were showing at the brims of my eyes, I glanced up to Oz in relief. But that relief turned into shock before I even noticed because the moment I looked into their face—

This wasn't Oz.

"Elliot...?" I whispered in utter disbelief. And apparently so was he, his expression surely a reflection of mine.

"Claire?"

* * *

_**A little shorter than usual I see. Ah yes. I just noticed that this triple upload ended on a cliffhanger x3 Sorry!**_

_**But I'm keeping a good pace with writing so hopefully you'll get the continuation of this vey soon :D For now please keep tuned to this story for the next chapter :)**_


	13. Heir and Servant Girl

_**Well, I can see that the last triple upload was very much appreciate by everyone cx I'm really glad you guys like it an I got a bunch of feedback from it. **_

_**So here are my thanks:**_

_**-LightandDarkHeart: Loved that you and Tris reviewed about all the chapters I upload. I love hearing from you two and it makes me happy. I've come to look out for you when I post. About the horror thing, that's exactly what I was going for. To let you feel that terror :D **_

_**-Tris PhantomEvans: Glad to see your name on this list again! :3 Thanks for the review and thanks a bunch for the gummy bears (virtual x3). I love dark cherry ones -w- But I digress, as for the meeting with Elliot well. You're about to find out c;**_

_**-LiveTheAnime01: Thanks so so much for following and favoriting the story :D Love seeing those just as much as the reviews! **_

_**Now without further ado, let us begin! :D**_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**_Heir and Servant Girl_**

* * *

"Claire?"

Intuitively, I jerked my hands off from his arms and tried to manage the train wreck that my thoughts were right then. This was never how I expected us three to reencounter, if ever. I had gone through various scenarios in my head trying to prepare myself for this but no amount of thinking had prepared me for the actual thing.

It took me a couple of seconds to return to myself and turn towards Oz who was with a blank stare, facing the ground. Glaring and scowling, I reached towards his arm and gripped it forcefully.

"What the hell are you doing down here, you idiot!" I shouted at him trying to make eye contact with him. He, on the other hand, denied me any and simply continued to stare at the floor as he apologized. I really wasn't trying to be mean or anything but my emotions were so rampant that in my attempt at trying to control them I was simply lashing out at him. "It doesn't matter anymore. We need to get out of here. Now."

Not wanting to spend another second in that suffocating atmosphere, I started to drag Oz's heavy weight after myself. As I had thought, however, he wasn't going to let me go just that easy.

"Hey." I ignored his calling and simply kept walking. "Hey!" Ignore him, Claire. Just try! It's for the best.

"Dammit, I'm talking to you!" With that third bellow, he yanked me by my shoulder and pushed me against a wall. Way too forcefully. My abdomen began throbbing from the manhandling that he was giving me. I tried to tear his hands off me but he wouldn't have it and held on tighter. Without me noticing, my eyes had began to seriously sting from the tears that wanted to come out. But I wouldn't let them. Not now.

"Elliot!"

"What the hell's your problem that you're just ignoring us like that?!" he yelled at me still holding my shoulders. Standing as strong as I could, it was really hard for me to remain aloof and keep my gaze down at the floor. But seeing how I wasn't responding to that, he shook me and shouted. "Answer me!"

I couldn't stand his yelling. It brought me back to that night. I just couldn't take it. It just—

"See what you did." Leo's voice barely reached me as he pulled Elliot off of me. I could still feel his hands on me and the empty space they left only pained me more.

"You...You know each other?" I heard Oz inquire from us three with a very perplexed tone.

"Of course we do!" Elliot confirmed, turning to Oz and giving me his back._ She's the servant I rejected._ Come on, just say it and get this ache over with! "She's my servant!"

Those three simple words made my eyes widened in surprise. I was baffled beyond words that he had said them. And somehow, that chauvinistic sounding remark couldn't have made me more relieved.

"How...?" It had only been when I spoke that word that I realized that those tears I had tried so hard to keep in were freely pouring now and they were breaking my voice into small sobs. My cracked voice and remark made them all turn to face me. "How can you still think of me as yours? You disowned me. Not just that but I—" I couldn't even understand myself from all the sobs that were coming from me. "I left."

"It's simple. N-No matter how angry I might have been or what I said, I never break my promises." Promise? He raised his face from glancing down at the floor. It was weird that he was holding his neck as he came to meet my gaze. "My promise to you...that I would never let you be alone again."

That one sentence erased all grief and pain, and even anger, that I had held bottled for over a year and replaced it with joy. I was so happy that my body reacted on its own and jumped at Elliot. My arms wrapped around him while I buried my face on his chest. I couldn't stop my tears from that point on. But they weren't of sadness, they were of pure glee.

"H-Hey!" he stammered and held me gently by my arms as he pulled me to look at him. Ignoring his foolishness, I wiped my tears away and gave him a small smile.

"Can we leave now?" I asked with what I knew was the biggest grin on my face. "I really hate this place."

He seemed perplexed at first from my sudden change of mood but within seconds, he sighed in relief as well. "Yeah. We've got the shorty's problem out of the way. We should really get out of this damn place." He let go of me but a second later offered me his hand. I simply gawked at his hand a little confused at what he was doing. "Don't get lost now. You don't like dark places, right?"

From his hand, my eyes came to his face and a smile crept to my lips. Nodding, I took his offer and we all headed towards the way they were heading to begin with.

We had jogged quite a distance when I heard the growl behind us. Even though I looked over my shoulder, the only thing I saw were a pair of gleaming red eyes.

"Let's say—" My face turned towards Oz who was a bit of a distance behind me. "If in order for you guys to survive I have to give myself to them or else you die, what will you do?"

"Ha, who knows!" Elliot beamed with a smirk and I felt his hand let go of mine. Just then, we entered into an actual room apart from the narrow halls. Naturally, we separated to give ourselves space then I heard it again: that loud growling from an animal. I watched as Elliot brandished that black saber that he always had carried around with him and never parted with. "We'll just think of that when we reach the point of no return! But, no matter what I choose, I will never let you die!"

Just then, from the shadows, a huge beast leaped into the air and separated us into two: Elliot with Leo and Oz with me. Gazing at the beast as it landed away from us and towards the door we had come from, I noticed a shadow that had appeared from that direction while we had been distracted. And I noticed two things alongside it, the beast was really a big ass lion, and the silhouette was a pink-haired woman...clad in a red cloak.

"Baskerville."

**"Leon."**

"Come on, little boy. Can you let us talk to Jack?" she asked with a whimsical tone but in her eyes I could see a pretty maniacal thing going on in her mind.

"Jack...?" I whispered under my breath and turned to face Oz as he began to back up against the rack of weapons.

"Oh~ If it isn't Chronos!" At hearing her say his name, I turned to the woman and noticed that beside her, another three had appeared from the same door. And I recognized one too damn well.

"You are—" but the sudden sound of metal behind me took me by surprise. Gazing over my shoulder, my eyes widened at seeing that Oz had actually gotten a sword from the many. That little brat—he was going to defend himself! Grinning, I had to admit that guy had changed. He didn't seem to be that same brat that would throw away his life so easy. At least not without a fight now. And if he was going to fight back... "Hades!" At my beck, the twin kukris blades appeared at each of my hands.

"All right, Leon," the woman called getting off from leaning on the Chain. "I know you're very happy since it's been quite some time since you've come out. Just remember, play nicely with the kittens~"

Leon leaped from her and charged at Elliot and Oz. Dealing with the cat's owner seemed like a better idea. But, I had someone else to deal with before that.

Aiming for the shortest of the bunch, I set out for the boy that I had encounter back in the desert. Yet, before I could even come close, the woman blocked my attack with a mere dagger and drew me back. She chuckled and twisted the dagger in her hand. "You're too predictable. You really haven't changed one bit!"

"W-What?" She took my hesitance as an advantage and attacked me. Barely catching my arm, I backed out to get enough space to avoid any serious injury. Instead, I happened upon the larger man that was using the biggest sword I had ever seen. He tried attacking me but he got distracted by Elliot suddenly aiming at him from the side.

Taking that opportunity, I charged at the woman when she was unguarded. Sadly, she saw through my attack just in time for us to clash blades.

_"Lottie one-sama!"_

Huh?

"Pay attention!" she growled with a grin and in my doubt, she found an opening to roundhouse kick me and send me a good few feet away.

"Claire!" With my ears ringing, I barely heard Leo calling out my name. What had that been?! It sounded...like me when I was little. But...who the hell was Lottie!?

"Fucking, shut up!" I growled through gritted teeth holding the side of my head as the same voice kept repeating in my head.

_"Poor thing."_

That voice— I barely had enough time to avoid Leon's large bite that was headed my way and went back to Oz. Panting, I couldn't think of how in the hell I was getting tired again. But then my injuries were still plenty and still healing. They were using some of my energy to cure which left close to little for me to fight. The woman came at me again, this time with two knifes and actually one got my arm. If I didn't think of something real quick it wouldn't be only me who dies here.

_"Then how about we change places?"_

That voice again. I know it; it's the one from that night. This time, I was expecting some weird crap to happen like before, so when I was being attacked I was ready to avoid it and deal with the voice.

What the fuck's happening to me?!

_"Nothing. You're conscious is just kicking in. You know you can't kill her. You don't have the guts."_ Barely evading more of the woman's and man's attacks, I continued listening to the voice that creepily talked in my head. _"But I do."_ As I stood back to prepare for another attack, I wasn't ready for the ice cold hand that suddenly gripped my shoulder. _"So, I'll let myself in~"_ Out of nowhere, I felt someone pull me back and before I could do anything, I fell into nothingness.

* * *

Noticing the sudden lack of movement in her, the youngest Baskerville boy finally put some attention to the fight going on before him. He saw that Fang was still fighting with that school boy, and Leon was still playing around with the Vessalius kid. And although she had tried, Claire's crossfire had only been stopped by Charlotte. But now, after practically dancing her way to avoid her attacks, she was completely still, her head hanging low along with her blades. It was too odd.

_"Watch out!"_

Her warnings had hit just in time for him to call out to Charlotte and make her aware. "Miss Charlotte!"

Lottie barely received the intent of his call to avoid the sudden attack that Claire had given. It was such a close call that she only managed to scratch the surface of her cloak close to her neck.

"Lottie-san!" Fang called out in concern from the sudden change of events.

"What's that—Red!" She didn't even have time to voice her thoughts when she saw that the boy had charged towards the girl with a shinning basket hilt sword in his right hand. But instead of ceding to the speed of his attack, Claire simply took it head on with both kukris blades being crossed before her.

"Show your damn face, you coward!" he growled through gritted teeth and summoned his tiger claws on his left hand in order to catch Claire off guard. But just as he had done that, she let go of her right kukri blade and had Legion summoned to counter his sneak attack. She lodged it on the cobblestone floor and made him leap back as more appeared beneath him.

"Claire?!" they all called in concern at seeing the battle that she had engaged in.

"Red, what's the matter?!" Lottie yelled towards him as he summoned both his tiger claws.

"That's not her..." he growl between gritted teeth.

"What's the matter, Miss Charlotte?" Lottie froze at hearing that voice and turned slowly towards Claire. Finally showing her face, Claire glanced their way with a wicked grin on her face. What shocked her most was that her dark blue eyes had changed into a bright crimson shade. "Missed me?"

"Well, I thought you had been dealt with a long time ago." At saying this, Lottie briefly gazed at the boy that now stood a few meters beside her. "But it may seem we still have the displeasure to meet, Siva." Claire's smile became sweet out of the blue at hearing that name.

"What's happening to you, Claire?!" Elliot bellowed out while trying to see why the hell the others had stopped attacking.

But something wasn't right about her, Oz could see that much. That girl that stood before them and drawing all the Baskervilles back wasn't her. "That's not Claire." His sudden whispered comment made both Elliot and Leo turn perplexed.

Claire —or whomever that was— gazed over her shoulder towards the heir and grinned. "You're right, kid. I'm not." She placed a finger on her pouting lips, almost childishly, as she thought and grinned once more. "But, I suppose I am now that I'm using her body." She placed a hand upon her cheek and smirked, "I am Siva."

"Siva?" he repeated more confused than ever.

"Stand back, Siva—" they all turned towards the youngest member of the Baskervilles as he brandished his tiger claws for them all, specially her, to see. "Or else..."

"Oh please, _**geria**__._ You wouldn't dare." The same mischievous grin from before came to her lips, "I, on the other hand..."

"Claire!" the three behind her yell at seeing that she had drawn the dagger that she carried on her thigh and had placed it up against her throat, right against her jugular.

"What the hell—"

"Take another step and I'll kill her where she stands. Both of you..." Oz had noticed that Elliot had intended to get to her before hand but he had failed to see the other boy from before also trying to reach her. "Miss Charlotte, we both know that neither you nor the rest will do any harm to the beloved little girl."

"Claire, stop this nonsense!" Elliot bellowed again shifting his feet forward. This took Siva's attention away from the boy long enough for him to summoned his Chain.

"Lacrimosa!" he called out and from behind him the silhouette of a doe could be seen. The force given by the Chain of Space was enough to drive Claire's body immobile.

"What-!"

"Leon!" Lottie called out and ordered the Chain forth. The huge lion charged at the girl and managed to catch her right leg in his giant jaw. With enough force to pierce the skin and some muscle, he took her and threw her as far away as he could from his master. Not wasting a second, he went ahead and charged towards Oz and tossed him aside as well.

Claire's body landed feet away from were Oz had been thrown. But this time, it wasn't Lacrimosa' powers that were keeping her down. This time, it was something more. And this something was giving the real Claire enough power to try and pull herself back.

_"Give it back to me!"_

Her strength of will plus Lacrimosa's binding helped Claire regain her body back. She wheezed and coughed as she lay on the floor, her side aching and her leg burning like the fires of hell. Not only that, her whole body was aching with a pulsating pain. What surprised her the most was that it wasn't her agonizing raw leg that hurt the most. It was her eyes and how much they were burning right then and there.

_"What a forceful summon, Oz."_ Even through the pain throbbing all over her body and the one burning behind her skull, she faintly heard Jack's voice as it echoed. _"All right, I will be their opponent. You just focus on saving your friends. Don't worry, Oz. After all, you have that right!"_

* * *

Right after I heard Jack's voice like crystal clear water, a pulsating wave of energy emanated from Oz a second before the same chains from B-Rabbit surrounded him and sent the second wave that disintegrated Leon.

The energy was powerful and would have knocked me back had it not been for a strong arm that veiled a clothe upon me, blocking the view. I didn't have time to complain because that was the instant that the wave hit me head on. I felt it coming but its power had been diminished somehow. It took a couple of seconds before the clothe was removed from me. But the instant it did, my eyes widened at seeing the form of B-Rabbit right behind Oz as he kneeled semiconscious underneath crumbling floors.

"The Blood-Stained Black Rabbit..."

Turning up to see from whence the amazed voice had come from, I glared at the boy that now kneeled behind me keeping me sitting up. Shouting and punching, I tried getting as far away from him as I could but I didn't get far. The instant I tried moving my right leg a piercing pain hit me from bottom to top, completely immobilizing me.

"If you try to move now, you'll only cause yourself more pain. Besides—" he motioned his hand forward just above my shoulders and seemed to touch something in the air for it rippled as if it were water. Then I saw something, like a dome of nothingness, surrounding us as the ripples extended throughout the circle. "If you step out of my field you'll be hit by the echoing waves of power he's still emanating."

With all the spite I could muster I turned up towards him once more with the most vicious glare I could give. "Why...Why are you—"

"So you finally came out." The woman's voice—Lottie, I supposed—took my attention away from the boy. She had been protected by the other Baskervilles and was staring right at Oz as he stood back up. A few feet away from me, both Elliot and Leo laid unconscious it seemed, after being hit directly by that shock wave. "Jack Vessalius!"

"Jack...?!" My voice wasn't much above a hushed hiss. I was in too much pain to even speak. The only reason I wasn't screaming in agony was because I was using Chronos to halt the bleeding for the meanwhile. But even with him, I couldn't stop the paint hat coursed through my body like poison through my veins.

If Jack had come out then what Break had told me about Oz was true. Jack's soul had really incarnated back to this world in Oz. But if Jack was using Oz's body right now to speak to the Baskervilles then...he's probably alone, just like I was when that girl took over me. That dark place where nothingness reigns.

"Charlotte..."

I didn't dare move but heard the faint lilt of the boy's voice as he said the woman's name. I hadn't noticed before but she had begun yelling at Oz—or Jack more like it.

Just then, I felt a surge of power mounting and suddenly it exploding along with Jack's patience. "I...!" But just as quickly as it had exploded it calmed down but that menacing aura never left. "I...killed Glen to gain fame and glory. Isn't that what you wanted to say?" B-Rabbit's power began surging again as he gave them one last warning. "You can never defeat the powers of B-Rabbit. Therefore—back off!" Another surge of strong power shot through the room cracking all floors, walls and ceiling. My eyes widened at the terrifying energy as it came our way but to my surprise the boy hung his arm across my shoulders and threw his cloak over my body loosely as another field surrounded us, guarding us from B-Rabbit's power. My breathing began getting ragged as my panic rose tenfold. I didn't have any idea why but terror was mounting on me by the second and it wouldn't stop.

I suddenly felt a large hand on my right shoulder as a soft, reassuring whisper came to my ears. "Breath..." The hand started soothingly rubbing my back in circles and, strangely enough, my breathing became a little bit more calm. My shoulders relaxed from how tense they were and my head wasn't as much of a wreck with the panic that had suddenly entered me.

"If you intend to repeat your mistake, then this boy shall become the blade that will destroy the death gods!" Jack proclaimed.

"Whatever. We're just following Master's orders," Charlotte reiterated as she turned to go. "If you want to kill Master Glen, go ahead. No matter how many times you do. No matter the times, I don't care. We will find the Master!"

With that they began leaving. Jack came to turn my way and I tensed right back up. That piercing glare was killing me. Just then a warmness came over my back as he whispered again, "Please, release me."

What? Something tugged at my hand, making me look down. I didn't know when or why but at some point while all else was happening I had grabbed the sleeve of the hand that he had wrapped around my shoulders. Not having enough brain cells properly functioning to give any coherent answer, I simply let go and just when I did, the warmth vanished. Forcing myself, I gazed behind my shoulder only to find that he had disappeared in thin air as well.

Hearing something hit the floor hard, I turned to see Oz on his knees and shortly after falling face first on the cobblestone floor. I cringed at hearing him collide with the floor. That...was going to hurt when he woke up.

"Augh." Hearing more noises I turned to see Elliot and Leo finally becoming conscious.

"W-What happened?" Elliot mumbled as he came to a sit along with Leo.

"You guys," I called out while not being able to move much. All I can do to call attention to myself is wave my arm. "A little help?"

"Claire?" Leo said as he got up and headed my way. Elliot, on the other hand, went over to Oz and picked him up to carry him over to where I was. Leo came up to me and kneeled to check on my injured leg. Even I knew it was bad since I could see the blood and some of my skin that was actually punctured through. Ugh, I think I see muscle even. "You need serious medical treatment on this. Does it hurt much? You don't think—"

"Yes, it hurts like a bitch. And no, I can't walk. Are you nuts?" I say rapid fire an he touches it lightly with the sleeve of his jacket. No matter how light that was of a touch, it sent pain up my spine making me growl through my teeth. "Dammit, Leo! Son of mother's—ugh!"

"Guess it does," he nonchalantly confirmed.

"Of course it does!" I yelled loosing a little of my patience. At yelling, though, I felt a little dizzy and had to catch myself before I fell back. "W-What's wrong with me?"

"You've lost too much blood," he explained and got behind me to get me out of my jacket. With my dagger that he'd picked up from the floor, he began shredding the thing.

"What's going on?" Elliot asked as he brought Oz over. But when his gaze fell on my leg, he pretty much had his answer. "A-Are you all right?"

"She's going to lose consciousness soon." Leo wasn't really paying much attention to him as he continue to shred the jacket into makeshift bandages. I couldn't do much but believe him since I was already having trouble breathing and my vision was starting to go blurry by the second. Even keeping up with this conversation was becoming a great ordeal right now. "Claire, you still with me?"

"I-I can't hear you very well..." I whispered through my broken speech.

He nodded and placed the dagger beside him and grabbed one of the bandages, placing it just above my wound. He turned briefly to Elliot, "You should go look for an exit. I don't think you'll like this." Elliot gulped at the warning and scratched the back of his head before agreeing with him. In minutes he was out and the only ones left were Oz's unconscious body, Leo and I. He passed me a small piece of clothe in a ball and placed it in my hand. "Place that in your mouth. If it hurts too much bite down on it." I nodded and abided by his instructions. Seeing that I had, he promptly went to work.

The instant he put mild pressure on it, my brain cells fired. I cried out but with the clothe in my mouth it was muffled. But crying wasn't enough, so I began biting down on it and making fists out of my hands. Not wasting time, he continued to bandage me but the more he did the worst it felt.

I couldn't feel my hands or jaw after some minutes but the pain still surged through me. I wanted to scream but it wouldn't help. Nothing did. It would just hurt regardless.

Two thirds of the way in I couldn't take it anymore. My body had already given what it could to keep awake but...it just hurt too much.

* * *

Leo only heard when Claire's body and head collided with the floor once she fainted. He panicked a bit but noticed that although pained, her face wasn't pale like it had been minutes ago. Seeing that it was something good, he continued and finished bandaging her leg. Putting it down gently to rest straight, he went over and struggled but managed to take her black vest off and bundle it up into a pillow. He sat beside her watching as her heavy breathing became regular and remained calmed. The color was slowly returning to her cheeks and although they were soaked, the blood loss had seemed to only make her weak. But as far as he could see, it wasn't life threatening.

"Ugh."

Leo turned towards Oz who lay a few meters away from Claire as he awoke and sat up. "Ah, you're awake." Oz made a puzzled sound as he held his head. "You all right? You seemed to be having really bad nightmares." Leo looked up to the ceiling and everywhere where the damaged seemed apparent. "The red-hooded guys appear to have left but they left quite a mess behind them."

At hearing footsteps from the only exit, the two turned to see Elliot appear from the door. "Oh," he said with a bit of surprise as he entered the room. "You finally woke up?"

"Elliot."

Elliot's eyes landed upon Claire as she rested and then at the mess that was left by Leo after tending to her leg. "Was she alright?"

Leo nodded assuring him. "She just fainted because of the pain. But it doesn't seem like she's in any imminent danger right now. We should get going though, to get out and find her treatment should be our priority right now."

"Yeah," Elliot agreed putting his sword over his shoulder. "I found an exit that goes into the forest. It's quite some way from the school but if we keep a good pace, we'll get there before nighttime." At noticing that Oz wasn't listening, Elliot's tempered flared. "Are you even listening to me?!"

The bickering continued but soon they decided that it was best to leave.

"What are you doing?" Oz asked as Leo helped Elliot put Claire on his back.

"It's not like she can walk, right?" Elliot said sarcastically while Leo adjusted Claire so that Elliot wouldn't hurt her inadvertently while carrying her.

"You—" Oz's outburst caught the two by surprised and stopped them briefly from continuing forth. "You knew each other from before, right?"

"Yeah." Elliot confirmed and kept walking forth after saying, "Like I said, she's my servant."

"Elliot, he—" Leo's words caught Oz off guard since he hadn't noticed the black-haired boy walking next to him. "He said some horrible things to Claire the day she disappeared. He knew she had gone to work for Pandora but because she never contacted any of us, he felt immensely guilty about what he had done." Leo turned to look at Oz, "I was always worried about whom she had wound up with after she left a year ago. Now I see that I never had a need to worry in the first place."

* * *

Pain quickly brought me back to my senses as my eyes opened up. I didn't know where I was but by the breeze and the smell, I could tell I was outside. My vision was still bleary, so I couldn't make out where exactly I was but I clearly smelled of sandalwood and lavender.

"You're awake..."

My vision slowly cleared at hearing that voice and the first thing that came to focus were a pair of bright, blue eyes.

Eyes that were _way_ too close to mine.

My natural reaction to the close proximity was to push him away and thrash but the second I did it gave me a charge of pain all over my body that made me cry out.

"Why the hell is it that you've hit me every time we've seen each other?"

Glaring at Elliot, I rudely point my finger at him. "You were too damn close!"

"I was checking on you!" he exclaimed as his remark. "It's been a good distance of me carrying you and my arms got tired. I had to put you down to rest a bit!"

Carrying me? Him? Then...the sandalwood and lavender...

"Huh? Are you okay? Your face just got red out of nowhere."

"Shut the hell up!" I screeched averting my eyes from him.

"Why do you keep doing that? Looking away from me..." His questioning and innocent tone made me gaze up and meet his eyes for the first time.

"I'm not."

"You were."

Finally his constant poking made me cave in, "So what if I was?! Geez! Seriously!" My anger and pain had boiled deep and were bursting out now. "How the hell did you expect me to face the master that told me that he never wanted to see my face ever again!?"

Shit! I can't believe I actually said it aloud! Out of embarrassment and fright, I hid my face between my hands.

"I'm sorry."

Huh? Taking my hands away from my face, I gave him a glance and couldn't believe my eyes. Elliot actually seemed...sincere.

But the back talking mouth that I had developed because of Break over the years beat my logic before it could form any coherent reply to that apology.

"You seriously expect me to accept your apology? After crushing me like that, saying all those awful things, you think by saying sorry you'll erase the hurt I've carried with me for this past year!?"

"No, I don't." His straight forward answer caught that foul mouth of mine by surprise. "For the past year, after that day, I've ran all kinds of scenarios of this meeting in my head, wondering and trying to find what I could possibly say to you to make you understand and forgive me. But the more I thought about it the more I came to understand myself. There was nothing in this world that I could say for you to forgive me. What you did was something I knew, deep down, I would never forgive either no matter how hard I tried. But when I went over what I said that night in my head, I knew that I had no right even when I was so angry to tell you those things." He chuckled a bit and ran his hand over his face, finishing with covering his eyes. "Even Leo pointed it out."

I understood too. Truthfully, I don't think I would ever forgive _myself_ for letting his brothers go. But that was in the past and I didn't want for it to get in between us all finally being able to reconnect after so long.

"Words said in anger become the malediction of the soul," I say knowing Leo well enough that I could figure what he had told him about speaking in anger. "Is that what he said?" He didn't respond but only buried his face on his shoulders. He must be dying of shame and embarrassment right now. How cute.

Without realizing what I was doing, I raised my hand and patted his head, ruffling his hair. At feeling it, his head snapped up and his eyes stared at me in shock, his cheeks molted red.

"I'm not really angry at you, Elliot," I confessed and withdrew my hand. "Yes, I was hurt by what you said and yes, I've been ignoring you, Leo, and Vanessa simply because of it. Because I was scared. When you become like that, so engulfed by rage, you're not you anymore. And that truthfully is what scared me when you said those things." Giving him a reassuring smile, I continued, "But both you and I have learned a valuable lesson with this. Sometimes things have to go wrong in order to go right." Mm, maybe that's not the right way to phrase it. Placing my finger on my cheek to think about it, I couldn't think of any better way to say it. "At least that's how I see it. Since we've both practically said sorry, how about we kiss that past goodbye and start clean again."

He seemed surprised at first but then his expression changed to a small smile. "Yeah, I'd like that very much."

Smiling, I reached my hand out and patted his head again. "That's a good boy, Elly."

"W-Why call me that all of a sudden?"

"Just because~"

* * *

_**Quite frankly, I love this chapter -w- It is so much better than the first one I wrote in the original. In contrast, for those that haven't read the old version, this one evened the blame on both parties instead of Claire being the one 'blamed' somewhat. All I have to say about this is that Claire doesn't seem as Mary Sue-ish as she did on the other cx Then again that's me.**_

_**Ref.: **_

_**-**geria**: rude way to refer to a young adult or boy; like brat **_

_**Well, hope you liked it just as much as I did. More than likely, I'll upload some tomorrow since I have a couple ahead of time. So look forward to that and stay tuned! :D**_


	14. Moon and Star

_**I'm sorry it took so long and it's not that long of a chapter either TwT I just got my laptop back from it being cleaned up and well, it had a lot of crap inside of it.**_

_**Let's give thanks for me having my baby back in my hands and to these people as well:**_

_**-**__**Tris PhantomEvans**__**: I'm so glad you liked it! Haha, I used to have a lot of those problems too unlike I started using OneDrive. It's online so it saves all my writing automatically and I haven't lost any contents since. My advice to avoid that, use an online journal like Evernote or OneDrive. They've saved me a bunch of heartache from losing stories -w- And yay! My own Oz rabbit plushie! xD**_

_**-**__**LightandDarkHeart**__**: Mm, so you're interested in what Siva maybe huh? Well in about...four or five chapters that question may be partially answered ;3 just saiyan. **_

_**-**__**McKaelaShae:**__** Nice name, btw. Thanks a bunches for the story fave and follow! :D Hope the wait was worth it x3**_

_**-**__**CrystalHeart950:**__** Thanks so much for the review, fave and follow there, Crystal! Love them a lot and I always pass around cookies (virtual-w-) to those people who give me faves and follows :D Plus you also get a cupcake for review! x3 Great support to know you'll keep reading ;D**_

_**Whoa, that's a ton of people c: Love the enthusiasm! I'll keep throwing chapters up at ya'll with this much feedback :'D**_

_**So let's get it on with this next one!**_

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

_**Moon and Star**_

* * *

"It's been a long time since I've been to the theater..." Oz's awed voice made me glance up towards the grand manor that had served as a theater for many years now.

We had all dressed up for the occasion, even Alice and I. And anybody who saw us could tell we were not comfortable at all with it. She wore a dress of dark red and black hues while I wore a dark, sea blue dress with dark and white tones. It was conservative to a degree but not suffocating like Alice's. At least I managed to sneak in my heeled boots on since the dress covered me up until the tip of the shoes. Trying to remain incognito for most of what was the length of the trip, I tried following beside Break as he was the last to exit the carriage.

When he came to face up towards the steps that led to the theater's entrance, I followed his eyes to meet someone I hadn't expected to see.

"Reim?" It was odd seeing him somewhere other than Pandora and the Rainsworth's since he was such a workaholic. My whispered voice didn't transcend far enough for him to hear and he simply continued as if nothing.

"We've been expecting your arrival," he announced as he waited for us. "Now if we may, I shall lead you all to my master, Rufus Barma." It seemed he was in sort of a hurry for as soon as he claimed his task he began to guide us through the place towards where the Duke was.

Duke Rufus Barma, huh? Break had warned me beforehand to not lower my guard in this place. That we had actually been accepted for a hearing was odd enough, it seemed. From what Oz was explaining, it seemed that the man knew a lot about pretty much everything.

According to what I was hearing plus what I knew beforehand from research, Rufus Barma was one of the Four Dukedoms that founded and upheld Pandora. Not only that but he was the oldest of the four.

_"He is a duke. The oldest of four."_

"_Skiá._ You sly bastard." I couldn't help but grin at his intelligence and at my own stupidity. How the hell was it that I missed such a straight forth clue?

"Finally discovered what he meant?" Break's hushed voice took my by surprise. I had been so absorbed by my own thoughts that I hadn't noticed that Alice had gone running off somewhere, that Gilbert and Reim had gone searching for her and that only Oz, Break and I had been left behind to wait.

"How would you even know what he said to me?"

He gave me a languid shrug of his shoulders before answering. "Intuition."

Yeah, right. "Really..."

"That man isn't one to lie. He just likes avoiding what he says. Believe me, what information I got from him always required a couple of visits." His eyes were transfixed upon Oz as he kept walking slower than a slug unaware of us talking. "And your poking around finally gave fruition. If anybody knows more than him, it should be Rufus Barma. After all, you haven't gone to him about your supposed brother or that woman. Is your plan to inquire those things straight from the horse's mouth?"

"If he knows about them then yes. Specially if it's about Edea Florence."

"Why her in specifically?" he asked sounding genuinely curious about my choice.

"For some reason, I feel that she's the source of it. If I can find out who she was, I think I'll be able to find more about that Cloude boy. Not only about him but also what they both meant to me in my past. That's why I also want to ask about Sablier, the town where—"

"You and your little brother resided?" I was ready to talk back to him but he quickly avoided me and went towards to where Oz had bumped his head on a wall while not watching where he was going.

Okay, maybe he wasn't far off. Pretty close actually. It bothered me greatly that I was believing this nonsense about me having a younger brother. The memories that I have collected so far, however, tell a whole different story. One that I had no proof if it existed...or of the contrary for that matter.

Even Break who was one hell of a guy at finding stuff that people tended to bury six-feet under, had not found a trace of who in the hell Cloude or Edea Florence were. What he did manage to find about was of Astrovylia and even then the information he had acquired wasn't much to be proud of when it came to him.

All that he had found about Astrovylia, or what my _other_ self had referred to it as, Astro, was a vague storybook history and a name. Apparently, this Chain, that had no known information in Pandora's base, was once deified as a goddess by a tribe of old. A goddess that was the personification of the stars, the one who made them shine in the night sky as guide for those lost. Although named a goddess, it had a genderless form but was deified as a woman. According to that old storybook, each night the goddess would travel through the night heavens and with her Star Seeker would give birth to the stars that were hidden when the sun came to rise. Star Seeker was the name of the staff that she held always on her left hand and that held the three gems personifying the Fates that cradled in a crescent moon the bright full moon sphere that signified the Final Fate.

What made me believe this stupid fairytale was that the staff that had been drawn on the pages was an exact replica of the one I had seen myself holding that night I fought with Cloude in Sablier.

But besides that, there was nothing. Now that I was here at Duke Barma's, though, I was invested on finding some answers.

Finally, and quickly holding my train wreck of thoughts back, we arrived at a curtain that Reim opened. He went in with us following behind him as he greeted the Duke. "Apologies for the disturbance, Master Rufus. I've brought Oz Vessalius along with the others."

"Aiya, aiya, aiya." That voice... shit. "Isn't today such a wonderful day for tea, children?"

"D-Duchess Rainsworth?" This lady...simply amazed me, regardless of how many times I saw her. She was astounding to put it bluntly. She was sitting in her usual wheelchair up to a tea table that was served aplenty with treats and tea. A red haired man stood behind her as if waiting for her beck and call. Her attendant maybe, but I've never seen him around the mansion.

When she began to introduce herself to Oz, I excused myself when I noticed that Break had begun to move away towards the balcony. Coming short behind him, I stood overlooking the stage and front row seats of the theater.

**"Claire..."**

Yeah, this place didn't just feel creepy. As of now, it started bordering the lines of disturbing. The people seated around and the actors were nothing but what seemed to be clay or stone statues, frozen in grisly expressions to mimic human interaction. Had one not looked closely enough they would have been fooled.

"This—" Break's tone of voice surprised me. He never spoke with such disdain in his voice, not openly at least. "Is such an exaggerated comedy."

Suddenly, the big ruckus that was happening behind us, made be spin on my heels to find a big chunk of...something hanging from the ceiling. No, not something. It looked like a very, very obese and round human being that for some reason traipsed about the ceiling.

"Damn," I hissed under my breath and tried not to laugh when the meatball, as Alice baptized it, had started to cause an even bigger ruckus with its tantrum about Oz's reaction.

I suppose he heard my quiet giggles because he suddenly spun around towards where Break and I were and threw a pen that I barely had time to avoid. "You! You forgetful and insufferable twat! You're one to laugh at the misfortune of others when you, yourself, have the mindset of a mentally hindered child!"

"Twat?! Fuck off, you stupid ass meatball!" I bellowed out with the all the might of my lungs as I insulted him. And I would have even gone after it and sliced him into pieces had Break not held me back from doing so. "Let me go! I'll make him minced meat!"

"Don't waste your energies in vain."

"Huh?" In vain? What was he talking about?

"Take a good look at him. He may be Duke Barma but he isn't _the_ duke," he explained with a hushed voice that actually made me shut up to hear him. I didn't find any meaning to what he was saying since that jackass was really getting on my nerves.

Out of the blue, Duke Barma began bouncing from wall to floor to ceiling and all over the place. A couple of times I had to edge out of the way and on one of those times he precariously bounced off from the balcony and onto the lower floors of the theater. Running out towards the edge of that same balcony, I glanced down to see that he had wrecked quite a few things on his way there.

"Ha! Hoped it hurt, you dumbass!" I bellowed down at him as he began rolling around on the floor.

"Claire!"

Had Break not called out my name to warn me the statue that had plunged a sword towards me would have hit me point blank. Yet, I failed to see the other that joined it and both pushed me over the edge of the balcony. Crying out as I felt myself falling, I grabbed onto whatever my hands could reach and gripped the edge with all my might. But my fingers were quickly slipping and before Break or Gilbert could reach me, I fell down two stories onto the ground below wrecking some chairs.

It took me several seconds to regain my breath and when I did, all I had energy for was to groan in pain. When I finally had air and head back on, I yelled out what I really wanted to say.

"Fuck, my ribs!"

A sudden piercing pain drowned every other away from me when Break placed the end of his scabbard on my left side and put some weight on it.

"Stop whining." He pressed harder on my stomach and this time made me rise up to stand. Ignoring me, Break walked on forth towards where the duke was currently having a tantrum as I followed behind him. "You seem to be quite in the good mood," he commenced while having me stand back a bit behind. "So, let us bring this whole show to an end, Sir Barma. I'm inclined to ask...you're real goal was never Oz but, in fact, it was I you were aiming for, isn't that correct? I had found it curious that after all my inquiries for a hearing with you only to be rejected, it is now you agree without a second thought."

Break? I was completely lost. I knew that he had sought out the duke before from Sharon but I never really knew why either. But he was right, when Oz requested this hearing not only did Duke Barma agree but he invited Break along as well.

"At last, you are here—" Duke Barma's voice came to my ears with a tone that gave me dread and slight fear. Turning towards him, that feeling only intensified at seeing that wide grin that spread from ear to ear making him appear even more disturbing. "The Red-Eyed Ghost."

Red-Eyed...Ghost? Approaching him from the side, I couldn't help but grip Break's sleeve slightly to shake a bit. "Break? What is he talking about?" But before he could answer all I heard was Oz calling out Break's name before all hell broke loose.

Break had slashed away at the duke leaving nothing behind but a carcass just as Oz and the others arrived. Sheathing it back, he raised it high above his head. "It's about time that you show yourself before us—Rufus Barma!" With that proclamation and his stabbing his scabbard at the floor, he unleashed the powers of his Chain, Mad Hatter, and began destroying all the people that had been seated about along with Duke Barma who was disintegrating in thin air.

In seconds, the large menacing presence that was Mad Hatter's prowess went away erasing all that came from the Abyss with it. And with all the surrounding energies gone, I somehow found a very powerful essence that had been hiding itself among the scattered figures. Turning towards it at the same time as Break did, I noticed someone who hadn't been there before. Or at least that I hadn't perceived.

"Well, well," his baritone voice came out as he spoke and the light adapted to the empty place. "The illusion that I poured my heart into so easily wasted. What wretched power, Mad Hatter."

That man...he was the one that was behind Duchess Rainsworth, the one who was standing by as her helper. No, apparently that, too, was a mere ruse to keep playing us. That redhead ahoge was really getting on my nerves now.

But my hatred was rapidly replaced by concern when I began hearing Break coughing profusely.

"Break!" Maybe it had been both Oz and I but I couldn't really discern who had spoken first.

Just then I saw as his body began to loose its balance. I wasn't much farther than a few feet and was able to catch him so that he could use me to lean on but my much shorter and tinier body wouldn't hold on for long. But before he could reach us, Barma came up to impede in his way. And although his body blockaded Oz's path, he was facing us or more to the point, Break.

"How pathetic." Barma then completely turned to glance our way before continuing. "It is because you use your power so recklessly that you end up as such. Useless, unquestionably."

Before I could even retort back with as much putrid hatred as I could muster, I felt Break jerk away from me and throw something at Barma that the man caught in his hand much faster than I could see. "Illusion shall remain illusion. It shall never interfere with reality. It is nothing more than child's play." He held up what Break had thrown at him and I saw then that it had been one of Break's countless candies. "Nevertheless, regardless if it is an illusion, it can still scare people to death." Without a warning, he let the candy slip from his hand and then forcefully stomped on it with his heeled shoes. Break's surmounting coughing took my attention for a brief moment before the man started speaking again. Seriously, he couldn't shut up for a second. "As you said, I seek information that you posses. But before that, how about showing me first that you—" before I could say a word, Break had shoved me brusquely behind him just when Barma charged our way. "Are Kevin Regnard _proven_!" Break blocked his attack with one of his own and before any of us could intervene Reim won us on that instead getting in the receiving end of Barma's stupid ass fan.

"Useless. Step aside if you're not helping," he proclaimed to Reim whose forehead, I could see, was bleeding from the hit he had gotten.

"But his body—"

"Weakens because of the contract's effect?" he replied with thick sarcasm on his voice. "Did you really believe that?" I knew without asking that Reim's expression had changed because he knew something none knew. "You don't...? The reason for his unstable condition isn't because of the contract itself." He began charging at them again but this time Break protected Reim. "It is because this is the second time!" When the attack hit Break and ripped his clothes, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

An...Illegal Contractor's Seal?!

My brain had stopped processing much of the information afterwards. All I heard were bits and pieces of what Duke Barma was saying.

Ugly.

Twisted.

Sinful person.

Those words struck me hard for some reason. Before I could even figure out why, though, a series of coughs took my attention back.

"Those things..." Break whispered with a small grin. "You needn't say." And without any warning to any of us, he fainted. We had all called out his name but only Reim and I were the closest and the former was the one who caught him when he lost consciousness.

"Break, hang in there." My voice was a bit shaky and I knew why. No matter how fucking annoying and nerve wracking Break was, he was my mentor. And more than that he was the only father figure that I ever had. I admired him very much and he knew it. He was part of my family just like all the others. My obvious concern showed even though I tried hard to hide it but I didn't care. All I cared about was that he was going to be all right.

All the while Reim and I tended to him, I overheard everything that the duke had told Oz and the others. I heard everything about Kevin Regnard, the Red-Eyed Ghost, an illegal contractor that had given 116 people to his Chain. Alas, regardless of his sacrifices, the man had still been sent to the Abyss.

What scared me most was what Alice had said even though I knew it was practically in everyone's head. "What you're saying is that that person...is this guy?"

"You're wrong." My whispers were nothing above that and I could only stare at Break and Reim as I heard all their accusations. "He would never..." But even I had my suspicions and no matter how much I respected and cherished him, I hadn't known him for more than half a year. And that's not enough time to know someone. As much as I hated myself for it, I, too, had my doubts.

"Do you seek to arrest Break as a criminal, Sir Duke Barma?" Oz's abrupt question, I think, took us all by surprise.

"As fun as that might sound—" sadistic bastard. "All I desire is information."

Information. Of course. Break had even told me that if this man had a flaw, if any, it was his ambition for knowledge.

_"With what you have, you can ask any one question but that'll be more than enough if you ask the correct one. Remember, all he wants is knowledge. If you know something that he doesn't, he'll negotiate."_

The duke then only mentioned what is was that he exactly sought from Break. "As of now, though," he proclaimed as he took a sit on the back of one of the many theater chairs. "All we have left to do is wait his awakening."

All that's left to do for me now...

Ask.

Standing up, I went towards Oz and placed my hand on his shoulder. It was amazing how the boy read me so well that he nodded and went over to Break and attended to him while Gilbert aided Reim. With that peace of mind, I started over for the duke and stood before him.

"What do you want, Chronos' brat?" he called out rudely towards me while hiding his mouth with his opened fan.

Calm down. I can't let myself boil because of this asshole. If I want answers, for this once, I'll have to be the one to bend.

"Since all we are doing now is waiting then I suppose you have time to listen to my request."

"Request?" he repeated not fazed at all and instead scoffed as if my demanding anything from him sounded ludicrous. "I require a price, of equal value I will add. What could you possibly know that I already do not?"

"Astrovylia." With the mention of its name he became quiet and still not making any sort of eye contact with me. After a few seconds though, he closed his eyes in thought before closing his fan and gazing my way.

"Continue."

"No," I declared, standing my ground. "Not until you swear that you will pay me as well for the information I am to give you."

"You're a taxing girl for barely fifteen." He gave it some thought for a couple of seconds before coming to glance my way again. "Fine. I will correspond to whatever you ask. Now, do tell, what is it you know about Astrovylia."

When he told me that, I hesitated for a second. In reality, I didn't know squat other than what Break had told me about it from that storybook. And I'm sure that wouldn't be such good information to exchange.

**"Just speak."**

Chronos?

**"Don't worry. Whatever comes out of you will be from me. I'll tell you what to say."**

You knew Astro?

**"Just...listen. And repeat."**

Putting all my faith in him, I took a deep breath before he began speaking. Shortly after I repeated what he had said.

"Astrovylia. I supposed I knew it better as Astro. When I was small, the time of my life I'm barely starting to remember, it would appear that I was somehow able to summon the staff that contained her powers: the Star Seeker. It is known as a Goddess of Stars because it is in them that it wanders endlessly leaving behind proof of her existence. All constellations told a story which was by its hand that they were portrayed on the night sky. In reality, the power of destiny is what it holds in its hands and is represented by the gems that it holds on that staff: Wisdom of the Past, Power of the Present, and Courage of the Future. All connected to each other by the final fate: _Teliki Moira_. In all its essence, Astrovylia is a weaver of fate able to manipulate time and space to command destiny itself."

It was all that I had to say. Chronos didn't speak afterwards and I didn't bother to ask why. I was too preoccupied to see if that was enough for my one question.

"Weaver of fate, you say. Interesting." He tapped his chin with his fan while thinking, "Interesting indeed. I am assuming that you are no longer capable of wielding that weapon." Giving him an answer, I shook my head. "Quite disappointing. However, I will abide to our agreement. Ask your question, Emissary of Time. Think well for what you gave me only amounts to one question."

Phrase it well, Claire. You can do it. After giving it enough thought, I took a deep breath and asked.

"I want to know what was the connection between the White Sage known as Edea Florence and a couple of children by the names of Claire and Cloude."

"Such an effortless answer really," he contributed with an air of superiority to him. Not just that but of snide too. Asshole. Out of the inside pockets of his overcoat, he pulled out a small, red leather-bound journal that was a little over half my forearm. It was well bound by thin threads and what I thought was the remains of the lock undone either by time or by force. His hand reached out with it towards me. A little hesitant at first, I ended up taking the journal that was a bit heavier than it looked. "All I have to say about that woman, Edea Florence, is that she perished as a heretic. According to the writings of an old tribe, the White Sage was to be a vowed woman that personified innocence and purity who was hand-picked for the cause of protecting the people. In reality, now, they would have been chosen because of their qualifications to contract with Chains. In specific, the Chain known to you as Astrovylia. But this girl not only broke her vow of protection but also her vow of purity by conceiving a child of a mortal man. Not just _a_ child; she had birthed twins. A baby girl and a baby boy. Twins she had named after the time they were born. Or to be more accurate, the moon and stars of the night they were born under."

_Claire and Cloude._

* * *

_**Dun, dun, dunnnn! What could be inside the notebook Barma gave her?! Well, you'll find out shortly since this is a double upload in celebration that I got my baby back! TwT **_

_**So hoped you enjoyed and stay tuned ~**_


	15. Who I Am

_**And well, here is my other promised upload :) Since it's back-to-back, there's no specific thanks except to all those out there who're reading this right now :D Thanks a bunch and hope you like it :3**_

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

_**Who I Am**_

* * *

It was insane. I could hear my own heartbeat from the staggering silence that had come over us after my talk with Barma. In my hands, I held the small, red journal that he had given me still unopened.

_"You gave me an answer. Why the book?"_

_"It goes in depth of who the children were. The memoirs of that man remained in that journal and tell of Astrovylia and of the White Sage. It will give you more insight and get you off my nerves for some time in the least."_

Despite his sneering comment, I took it and went to seat away from the rest of them and was about half way from the stage. It had already been five minutes since he had given me this. The reason why I still hadn't opened it was because...I was sort of scared. No matter where I look or what I see, the name _Claire_ always keeps popping up. And the more I continue to search for my past and the more I find, the more I feel this fear coursing through me.

I'm afraid of what I will find.

I'm afraid of what I won't.

But most of all, I'm afraid that this fear will keep me from searching further.

"Are you all right?"

Jerking a little in my sit, I gaze over my shoulder to see Gil who had separated briefly from Reim to come check on Oz and us. Going back to the book, I simply nod as the answer. "Actually—" I speak out of the blue what was on my mind before he could leave me. I don't why but I felt like if I said something I'd at least feel better. "I am worried...about Break. He hasn't woken up and it's worrying me a great deal."

He squeezed my shoulder assuring me before giving me a smile. "He's a tough one to kill." His wording made me snicker involuntarily. "Don't worry too much about him. He'll wake up once he's rested." Nodding once more and giving him enough assurance that I was really fine, he left to were Oz and the rest were to check on them.

Well, I didn't quite tell him the truth. I was worried about Break but what was getting more on my nerves was the book I held in my hands.

**"Open it up and read it, Claire. Despite how scary it seems, once you start it'll pass by quickly."**

"You're very nonchalant about this. You still need to explain how you knew all that about Astrovylia," I quietly whispered to him not really feeling like thinking anymore.

**"Happenstance, really. I'm the Chain that controls time. Lacrimosa and I have this sort of connection with it because of the powers we control."**

"If your time and she's space, does that mean that Astrovylia commands you both? Would someone contracted to her be able to control you even if you're contracted to me?"

**"Yes and no, to both of those. She commands us but it is harder when we actually have a contractor. Much like the Cheshire Cat, our will wasn't to obtain a contractor and get out of the Abyss. It had actually been Astrovylia who had commanded us to do so. The day you and I contracted, I had been ordered to reach you at any costs."**

At hearing this my nose cringe up in bafflement. "Why me? What was so special about me?"

**"Don't know. Lacrimosa and I are much like the Baskervilles. When we're given an order, we don't question it."**

"I've never pinned you as one who would keep his trap shut."

**"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."**

That last phrase took me a little by surprise for it stopped me from asking any further. He was right, I guess. Had he questioned Astrovylia, a Chain that was deified, who knows what would have happened to him. As for why they chose me, I didn't care so long as that power remained to help me in this quest.

Taking Chronos' advice, I opened the book and found the first legible passage I could find.

_Today, something peculiar happened. Or more like something peculiar happened upon us. He had called me over because of a couple of children. Two siblings, in fact. A boy and a girl._

_Twins._

* * *

"Never expected for you ever to call so suddenly, Glen." Jack Vessalius walked along the halls of the Baskerville mansion. He was following after the wake of his friend and head of the household, Glen Baskerville. "And you needing my help—" Jack chuckled a bit nervously. "Though it's quite suspicious, I'm flattered really." They continued walking and turned a corner only for him to notice a familiar pink haired woman that was quickly walking towards one of the rooms while fidgeting with the contents in her arms.

"Ah! Lottie-san!" Jack exclaimed as they arrived to the same door she was having great troubles to open.

"G-Glen-sama!"

"Charlotte," Glen pronounced with his baritone voice. "Is she ready?"

"N-Not quite. Her injuries were just bandaged and I've been having troubles getting clothes." Finally gripping the door knob, she stuttered when she felt Glen's hand already turning it. "Ahhh! I'm so sorry!"

Not answering to her unnecessary apology, he opened the door for her and let her enter first while the two followed behind her. What they found was a small bundle under the covers of the bed. All that poked out from the depths of those blankets were dark, round, and shinning blue eyes.

"Oh dear!" Charlotte groaned under her breath. She placed what clothes and other things she was holding aside and went over to fish out the thing that was hiding under the covers. Jack's eyes widened at seeing a little girl in her petticoats that seemed no more than four of age covered in bandages across her forehead and other scratches. Charlotte picked her up and sat her back down on the bench at the foot of the bed. "Please, stay still." The girl only watched curious as Charlotte went over to hand-pick one of the small gowns she had found. It was simple and of hues of blue that matched well with her eyes. The toddler seeming too fidgety and nervous to stay still, crawled out of the bench and snuck up on Charlotte lifting her skirts to go beneath them. "H-Hey!"

Jack had to stifle the laugh that wanted to come out at the girl's actions. Soon enough, after much rummaging through her skirts and to her embarrassment, Charlotte found the little girl and sat her back on the bench this time with the gown in hand. Not talking much to her, she clothed her in the gown. Taking her in her arms, Charlotte sat down and sat the girl on her lap and began to brush the mess that was the girl's ebony locks. Meanwhile, the little kid was playing around with her dress, at times lifting her skirts to look under them only to be chided by Charlotte.

"Why...do you have a child here?" Jack asked watching intently while the girl watched everything with a curious eye but never making eye contact with any of them.

"She and her brother arrived by themselves not long ago. Charlotte found them."

Arrived by themselves...

"Emissaries?"

"But it still shocked me," Charlotte added with a sorrowful grimace on her face. "Both of them, the little boy in particular, the injuries that marred them weren't any accident. They were purposefully inflicted. What I can't fathom is who would dare lay a hand on them?"

"Can't they tell you?"

"Don't you think we've tried that already?" Charlotte asked already seeming stressed about the siblings. Hearing her raising her voice caught the little girl's attention making her look up and open her mouth.

**"Rieta votyl!"** she shouted in glee with a lilt to her voice thinking it was a game. Jack stared dumbfounded at the words that had escaped from the girl.

"As you can see, whatever language they speak none of us have heard before. We can't communicate with either of them well enough. It's the reason I called you in such a rush."

"What use would I be?"

"Teach them. You're quite exemplary with children...teaching them how to speak shouldn't be a task."

"You might be right but..." Jack's thoughts trailed as his eyes went back to the little girl that now cuddled against Charlotte's bosom while sucking at her thumb. Yawning, she gazed up at her and pulled at her dress.

**"Matisera, dortine?"**

"_Matisera?" _Jack knew that word. From a trip long ago to visit a certain family. He looked up to Charlotte and asked, "She's calling for her mother."

"Oh, no. Dear—" Charlotte whispered with a shake of her head. "I'm not your mother. I don't know where she is."

**"Matisera...non?"** the little girl pronounced again while shaking her head like Charlotte had done. When Charlotte repeated the gesture this made the little girl glance down and out of the blue begin to tear up.

"Oh dear, please don't cry." Charlotte pleaded while cradling her up to her bosom and soothingly rubbing her back. This seemed to calm her down somewhat driving her only to sobs instead of full on crying.

Jack came forth without a say and knelt before the two. Noticing the sudden movement, the little girl jerked away and tried hiding against Charlotte. At seeing this, he only smiled kindly and slowly reached out with an open hand.

"I won't hurt you." The girl's eyes poked out from her safe haven and simply stared at his open hand for what seemed to be the longest time. After what had been minutes, she reached out with her minute fingers and grasped one of Jack's. At seeing nothing happening, she reached out with both hands and began to inspect his whole hand that was easily bigger than hers. Once she was comfortably playing around with his fingers, he joined her and this time she didn't scoot away. Raising to his feet, he stretched out his arms towards the girl. This time it took mere seconds for her to reach out her own towards him.

Taking her up in his arms, the little girl giggled while he bumped her up and down. Jack turned towards Glen with a smile while the little girl played with his hair, "I'll teach them both. Not just that but I'll show them how fun life can be."

* * *

_Ever since that day, I have kept my promise. These past few days I have visited the mansion more often than I used to in the past. Soon the days turned to months and now almost half a year has gone by. It took quite a while and was truly some hard work. In the end, it took me half of those six months to teach them fully of our language. And although they can now speak it fluently that accent from their native tongue hasn't disappear. It sort of gives their speech a lilting characteristic. Regardless of that, after they learned how to speak they told us their names._

_Claire and Cloude. _

_The days went by and the more I taught them, the more I noted the little quirks of each one. And, despite being twins, each had something that marked them, something like their unique endowments. _

_Cloude is very smart yet was quite somber at first. Because of the scar that marred wholly across his face, he tended to avoid mirrors. But with Claire's and my help, he became less mindful of it. As I said beforehand, Cloude is very bright for his young age specially when they started their personal training. According to what he would tell me, Cloude had much flair with fighting. At such young age, _he_ confided that it was getting to the point that it would be hard to find new things to teach the boy. He was very perceptive about his surroundings and about people as well as being able to anticipate someone's next move. Yet for him to do this, he must have full contact with the person in question._

_Claire, on the other hand, was more gifted at her studies. It was mostly because of her memory. I believe a friend of mine called it eidetic. What that meant is that whatever image, scene, or situation she sees, she can recall with fair ease and without any help. This greatly helped her to learn our language way before Cloude had. Although, she does not have that great of a fighting ability, she does not fall behind from her brother. Yet she can be very naïve at times and that makes her curious of every little thing. She loves questioning everything that is done and continues to ask until she gets an answer. Because she can remember so well, she can pretty much tell when someone is lying to her by their mannerism. _

_It was shortly after their birthday that I began to notice some odd behaviors. Cloude had begun to skip on my classes and spending much time away with his training. When I asked, I was only told that he was taking mind of his priorities and that he wouldn't be attending my lessons anymore. I didn't question _him_ afterward...after all Cloude's a part of that household. Having a say in things that happen there is a luxury I do not have. Yet having Cloude even ignore Claire when the two used to be so close was causing much anguish to the girl. _

_A smile hadn't appeared on her face until the arrival of those two. The two boys that I picked off of the streets, half dead. I supposed, because they were also very attached to each other, that she sought refuge in their mutual devotion. Those brothers—_

"Huh?" I heaved a bit disappointed that the journal so abruptly ended there. The names...they were unreadable. The ink seemed to have blotched or something. Whatever the cause, I couldn't read the continuation of that entry. I skipped plenty of pages that were just as unreadable as that last one and ended up at the end of the journal were a small portion had survived the carnage.

_After much asking, I finally found out why _he_ was keeping them so secluded from strangers. Those two were born from a tribe to the west, one that had just become engulf in a massacre. That meant...that just like all the others, these two have brought misfortune around with them for belonging to this house. _

_This tribe was one that worshipped a goddess, a deity of the heavenly night; it went by the name of Astrovylia. This goddess chose a woman every so often to carry its powers and protect their people. What I was told about the chosen women was that they usually had an affinity to the darkest depths. Needless to say that I knew instantly what he had meant. These chosen women were most likely contractors of Astrovylia who was probably the Chain who would allegedly bring them prosperity and protection. This was all that _he_ knew of the tribe from whence the twins came from._

_Yet, I wasn't satisfied. I wanted to know more so in the end I asked my friend who actually had lived outside of our country. Arthur didn't know much more than this: according to what he knew, the woman that was chosen was christened as the White Sage. These _sages_ needed to be not only qualified but also have a pure and innocent essence to protect them. What Arthur told me, however, was that the recent massacre was caused because of the young lady that had been chosen as the late White Sage. She had broken the rules of the tribe and had stained her purity. Pretentious and stubborn, as Arthur had described her, she had become the bearer of children, twins. He told me that those children hadn't been found but I knew otherwise. Claire and Cloude _were_ those children. There was no other explanation for her being so gifted and pure-hearted. And there was no other explanation for her and Cloude to have such affinity with the attributes of Astrovylia, time and space. _

_What convinced me the most was that although he told me that the White Sage was chosen by the Chain, that the abilities to wield it and contract it were also possible through inheritance. And the small passage that he had told me about the task of a sage. _

_**Ye who has been chosen shall grant us guard through divine light**_  
_**It shalt be through aria that ye shalt take both light and dark to twine **_  
_**Holy aria was your dawn, so shalt holy aria be your downfall**_  
_**Hence for our paradise to prevail your being will remain eternally in thrall**_

_There wasn't anymore doubt in me after deciphering this. It was clear to me that Claire was the descendant and, hence, the inheritor of such fate. Claire would be the next successor, the only daughter of the White Sage—_

"Edea Florence." Had I read that aloud? Yeah, I was so emerged into it that I read her name out loud to myself in a faint whisper. It took me a while to actually accept what was happening to me. Every time I found something, the more I tried to deny it. But each time my name was mentioned so was Cloude's and Edea's. It took all I had to finally acknowledge to myself that what I saw as my memories and what I read and was told wasn't about someone else.

Claire, that is my name. And, even though I have no recollection of it, who I was.

I have a brother...Cloude.

And my mother, Edea Florence, had been a sage like no other. She had gone against her people by having my brother and I. But even though I knew and accepted that now, I still had no clue what had occurred as a result. The massacre in the tribe that this person mentioned was still unclear and vague at most. Had there been any survivors? If so, would they have...known my mother? My family?

The sudden ruckus of the fight took my attention away. Standing up, I went up a few rows to hear more clearly. Break's past and what he encountered, Alice's connection to the Baskervilles and more importantly to the Will of the Abyss. Twins, just like us, condemned by the fate they were born to. When Duke Barma suddenly captured Alice's wrist and was coming to take Break away, Oz stood up to interfere.

"Compared to Break," Oz explained with what started as a nice tone that quickly turned south. "You piss me off fifty times more!" That boy, he spoke his mind so much more now. Not only that but his position of protecting someone even if he had to use Jack's name as a hero reminded me too much of something.

Ever since we came back from Latowidge, Oz hasn't been the same. And truly, it's been for the best. He's now less willing to give up his life and has an even more fervent desire to protect those which he cares about.

"So if it's to 'protect someone', I'll do whatever it takes!"

Out of nowhere, the duke raised his arm with the fan and was close to hitting him. We all reacted, even I dropped the book in my hurry to get him out of harm's way. But before any of us could touch him, a fan went in between them and curiously enough stuck to the wall from the force it took to launch it.

Glancing aside, we were all surprised to see Duchess Rainsworth, the real one this time, coming up to us. Barma had tensed up the second he saw her and when I saw that I knew this was going to be good. When Break mentioned that he had made an illusion of her, the duchess took Barma out back stage like it was nothing. When I suddenly heard the hard whacking that came from that direction, I actually jumped in fear.

I wasn't too fond of Sharon when she was like that, and now I saw where she got it from. After giving Break some corny but suitable encouragement, we were ready to leave. Before following the enthusiastic four I went back to pick up the red journal that Barma had given me for my collection. Now I just didn't have my broche.

"Claire?"

At hearing Oz's perplexed call, I turned towards him. "I'm coming." We left and on the way home, Break opened up to us a little more by telling us about more of his past and what it was he wanted to change from the past so desperately that he had killed so many. But it was impossible, even I knew that changing the past—

"No." Break's sudden interruption took us all by surprise. "I changed the past. She—the Will of the Abyss listened to my wish..."

But even when he managed to change the past, that future was bleaker than anyone could have expected. I've had the mentality that when Illegal Contractors say they'll change the past, that it is futile despite what they due. Ever since I knew about them, I've believed that no matter what is changed, what is meant to happen will happen. The only thing different is how we arrive to that happening. It's like walking before a train and getting stuck on the tracks. You can sit there and await for it to end you or you can fight with all your might to get out off its way. Even if you do manage to get free and walk out another may be coming through the opposite tracks that you failed to notice. Regardless of what you choose to do, the train will hit you. Fate has a way of coming around. It may be set but our free will is those choices. Whether we fight or not. And those choices are what make us who we are.

Much like Break, he chose to change the past of the household. Yet where there is death, there will always be death, and it was proven so. However, it was that choice to attempt and change their fate that makes Break the way he is now. A little sad, cynical, weak yet strong person. The one we know and care about. And truthfully, despite how bad it may sound, I wouldn't want it any other way.

We arrived to the Rainsworth some minutes after and after Oz talked to Break, I went up ahead while still listening. Damn, that kid and I think too much alike.

Once inside, I went to my room to get out of the stupid ass dress. But when I was about to get into my nightgown and turn in for the night, a couple of knocks came in. Putting the gown on, I called out to whomever was behind the door, "Come in."

Heeding my words, I saw Sharon entering the room with her own nightgown on. She must have already gone to see Break and the others before they went to bed. It was something she would do to make sure we were well for the night.

"I have much to ask but I suppose this isn't the right time," she said sheepishly with a gentle smile.

Grinning, I adjusted my nightgown and came over to her. "A little tired, yeah. I'll tell you everything tomorrow."

"Well, before I forget, this came in for you while you were gone." Sharon passed me a sealed envelope that had no symbol on the wax seal.

"Thanks."

"I'll see you in the morning then. Goodnight, Claire."

"Have a goodnight, Sharon," I reciprocated out of habit and watched as she left my room and closed the door behind her. After hearing the audible click, I went to my desk and got out my letter opener. Taking out the single sheet of paper, I read the neat handwriting that it was written in.

_Find your way to Christ. Let Hades lead you during the thirteenth hour. _

Christ.

No doubt about it. This must be the Baskerville brat. The 13th hour? I glanced over to were the clock was and noticed that it was barely eleven. So he wanted to meet me tomorrow at one, huh? Placing the letter and envelope inside one of my drawers and leaving it there, I went ahead and snuck into my bed sheets. Tossing and turning, I ended up facing up at the ceiling of my canopied bed and let my thoughts wander.

Everything I had learned today had shown me something about myself. That little girl that existed back then was me but it had already past. I am Claire, and that is who I am now. No matter what I learn from now onwards, I'll always keep that in mind.

Despite what I may learn of who I was and the things I did, I will never stop being myself. And tomorrow, I was going to prove it, first by kicking that Baskerville's butt.

* * *

_**Well how was it? :3 this was pretty much the same length as the other one so that's why I decided to upload them together.**_

_**Ref.:**__**  
**_

_**-****Rieta votyl: **Rough Trans: Miss, angry. So she's saying that 'Miss is angry' but taking it way too lightly -w- oh kids._

_**-Matisera, dortine? : **RT: Mother, where? Self explanatory :3_

_**-Matisera...non? :** RT: Mother, no? Again...self explanatory. _

**_Bear in mind that the language I'm using as theirs is made up with mixes and that the phrases themselves aren't spoken as if written correctly, if I make myself clear. They're just simple subjects thrown together. _**

_**So yeah, hoped you liked it and look forward to the next chapter ;D**_


	16. Vincent and Gilbert

_**Well, I have two extra chapters so you guys know what that means x3 **_

_**Double Upload! :D**_

_**So let's go to the thank you section really quick to show my appreciation to some awesome people! :3**_

_**-**__**CrystalHeart950**__**: Thanks a lot for the review Crystal. And yes that was a lot of revelations when considering one half of her family tree ;3 And guess what, I see some more coming.**_

_**-**__**Trist PhantomEvans**__**: Hey there, girl. Thanks a bunch for the review and tell Gil I say thanks for the cupcakes ;D And I liked how the relationship with Claire and Break is too c: I try giving every character a chance to see how they are through Claire's eyes. Glad you liked it too cx As for the staff, let's just say that I got some inspiration after playing **__**Mogeko's Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea.**__** And thanks about the vocab. I always have a thesaurus open when I write. It helps me learn and express myself better c; **_

_**Well, after this let's go ahead and start this next chapter :D**_

* * *

**Chapter**** Sixteen**

_**Gilbert and Vincent**_

* * *

Knowing what would come for the day, I woke up earlier than most. By around six in the morn I was already dressed and ready to go out for the day. Even though I was to meet up with him in the afternoon, it didn't mean I couldn't enjoy some of the festivities that were happening around town today.

In Reveille, it was going to be St. Bridget's Day today. I had never really gone to a festival before. I've only heard about them and read about them in books. Such festivities, I've always wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Putting a cloak on, I had managed to sneak out of the mansion without waking anybody up. Or so I thought...

"Going somewhere?"

Stopping in my tracks, I couldn't help but cuss at my own stupidity. Of course Break would be the only one insanely capable of noticing me slipping off.

"Y-Yeah," I replied somewhat reluctant to but shook it off quickly before he noticed. "If you have any problem with that you can always come along with me?" Gazing quickly over my shoulders, I saw as he emerged from the shadows that were being caused by the rising sun's light.

"It isn't a problem. At least not mine. All I wanted to know was what you were planning to do with that little annoying luggage you're burdened with. After all, you are Oz-kun's bodyguard."

"He can take care of himself, Break. Sure, Gil may be a little useless at times but he'll have to do for now." I turned towards him with a smile, "I'll be back before dark, Papa. I'm off."

Without awaiting his answer, I left the mansion by foot. Reveille's capitol wasn't far and by the time I got there, many of the stands that were selling and a plentiful crowd had already gathered. It wasn't even eight and all the streets were lively with busy people coming here and there.

I took some leisure and bought myself something to eat. A crepe and some nice milk were what I had for my breakfast and I took it out near the bridge above a river. Sitting on the edge I watched the people pass me by as I ate my food.

It was indeed lively today. Since Reveille was the capital I never thought it was possible for it to be even fuller of people. It seems I was clearly wrong. Everyone around seemed to be so glad and having so much fun. Reminded me much of the kids back at the orphanage, the few times that I performed the White—

"Fucking crap!" I clamped my mouth closed and felt my cheeks get hotter out of my embarrassment from yelling such vulgar things out in the open. Throwing my trash away and walking away from the crowd that had heard me, I began to heavily ponder on what I had just come across.

Crap, crap, crap, crap!

The White Flora had completely slipped my mind! I had to compose the song I was going to sing and have choreography for it in time for the ceremony. I needed the beads, tambourines, candles, and the papers. Shit, I needed the clothes and shoes that I was going to wear. And I had to do all that in less than 72 hours!

I just wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear now more than ever. So I did just that in the middle of the street, hell be if people laughed at me. There's no way I'll ever have everything ready in three days' time. "God, what am I going to do?!"

"Get your dresses!" At hearing the loud shouts of a vender nearby I couldn't help but look up from my ball of despair. "Let's celebrate by helping the angel hide and find her true love! Come, come and celebrate with everyone!"

Huh. Dresses?

"That's right!" I exclaimed scaring a few people around me when I suddenly sprung back to a stand. Checking my pocket watch and making sure that I had enough time, I walked over to the dresses that they had displayed and began searching.

That's right, today was a festival. People were selling all kinds of clothes, toys, and things to celebrate. Things that I knew I could put to use plenty. It took me a couple of booths to finally find a dress that I knew would be perfect for the ceremony. It was of nice length first of all—it only came up to my knees— and it would allow me to perform a nice dance the way the cloth fell together. The top was sleeveless which was the only bad part and it was a deep blue color that match my eyes. At the waist it began to fade in color and quickly became a white skirt with ruffles that puffed it up enough for my taste. To take away from the sudden change of color, a bundle of silver feathers was strung to the right side of the waist and along it were patterns of feathers sewn intricately on places around the waist and fading out onto the white skirt. It was perfect and best of all it fit me.

What else I found were the beads, tambourines and candles. The paper I could get later and all that was left were the song and dance that I had to come up with. Now that the load of the dress and miscellaneous stuff was out of the way, I could finally take a breath of relief.

"This will be enough for now." Walking away, I was intending to call for someone from the mansion to come meet me and take everything when someone bumped into me making me drop a few bags. I tried reaching out but a hand won me to it.

"Oh goodness, my apologies." That voice...

At gazing up, Reim and I stared at each other for a few seconds before he broke out of his stupor and finally stuttered his way into a conversation.

"M-Miss Claire!?" Oh yeah, something was up. "W-What a surprise! What brings you out so early in the morning?"

"The festivities and private matters," I reply truthfully but with a jesting grin. "What brings you here, Mister Reim? I presumed that you were too busy with your work and Break's to enjoy any kind of vacation?"

"W-Well!" His voice was cracking too much. He suddenly took his glasses in his hands and began cleaning them fervently. I watched him nonchalantly with an aloof expression as he continued to explain himself. "I came to escort Oz-sama and Alice-san as Sharon-sama requested."

"And—" I placed a finger at my cheek and raised an eyebrow. "How does that suit into Break's request again?" At the mere mention of his name, he suddenly begin to get the jitters. Oh yeah, that one totally blew up in his face. "He asked you to follow me, didn't he?" At noticing my knowledge of it, his shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"I'm sorry."

I heaved a sigh but in reality the fact that he had actually sent someone—specially someone as diligent as Reim—touched me in some weird way. "Never mind it," I say before putting the weight of my shopping bags on his arms. "Would you do me the favor and make sure these get back home safe? Thanks!" He didn't have time to argue before I sprinted away as far as I could before anybody could follow me.

Finally arriving at one of the few desolate alleys, I stood by checking if anybody was nearby. Once I had verified I was alone I called Hades to me but didn't allow it to materialize. Instead, what I had done was hold in my palm the small sphere of light that made it up. Holding it forth, it surprised me to see the thread of light that shot from the sphere and traveled out towards what looked to be the west outskirts of the city.

It took me a good while to exit the city and enter the west woods that surrounded it. I knew that beyond the boundaries of the forest were the borders of the country. If I stepped out of here and entered, I wouldn't have any protection because I was an agent of Pandora. Beyond those woods were countries that were self served.

But I didn't have to worry about it because instead of pointing forward, at some point in the woods, it took a sharp left. Following it, I had to cut off some vines that clung to the trees to get through. Once out I noticed that I had arrived to a small grove hidden away by overgrown forestation. Beyond the grove was what seemed to be a cottage. The trail of light ended once I got at the foot of the door. Going over, I opened the door and heard the hinges with clarity as they cringed and cried from not being moved in so long. I stepped inside into a small, cozy living room. For some reason, the wooden floor was stained with black blotches besides the intrusive vines that had appeared over the years. Walking through it, I went into the room to the right. The door was so ingrown from the forestation that I had to kick it down forcefully, throwing it off its hinges. The door falling made a cloud of dust making me cover my mouth and nose with my sleeves. Well, nobody seemed to live here anyways.

The room I was in now seemed a little different than normal. The beds were much too small for an adult so perhaps this had been some children's room at some point. I was surprised that the beds themselves had survived in a much better condition than the rest of the house. On the pillow of one of the beds was a small doll. Coming closer and picking it up, I could tell that it was a handmade doll with blonde hair and blue eyes with a tattered green dress. The moment I picked it up the doll's little arm fell off. Not wanting to do anymore damage, I left it as it was and placed it back.

For some reason this place gave me some heavy nostalgia. It seemed like the home of a normal family. Although old and bitten, the home itself gave off such a comforting feeling."Why...this place?"

"You don't remember."

At hearing his voice, I spun around already with Hades in hand to face the Baskerville boy that now stood between the exit and me. He had no weapon on him but I was expecting anything at any second.

"What do you want? Why did you call me out here?" I inquired all ready to attack if he tried anything funny. Instead, he started walking over to me with a steady yet slow walk. Fearing the worst, I became hostile towards him. "Answer me!"

"The 29th." Huh? He began getting way too close to me but when I tried backing away more all I felt was the wall against my back. Shit, he had me cornered. "Do you know...what happens in three days?"

"I have no idea and frankly don't care. But if you dare touch me, I'll beat the daylight out of you," I growled noticing him only a few feet away from me.

"My intentions aren't to fight," he retorted with that same lilt to his voice. "In fact, I come bearing a gift from us all."

"Gift?"

"The 29th," I felt him breath out the words from how close he was. He had trapped me and even with Hades in my hands, I couldn't move. "That day, we celebrate—" Out of nowhere I felt something sharp on my chest. "Our birthday."

Gasping for air, I let go of Hades to grasp at my chest instead. My breathing was getting ragged and it was getting harder to see. He stands back only enough to give me space to fall down onto the floor. My body was going numb. I could barely breath anymore and my vision was getting darker by the second. W-What was happening to me?!

"If you're so affected...it won't be long before she's forced to come out." What little energy I had left I used to glance up at his silhouette as he began leaving the cottage. "When it does I'll have spared you your fate. After all..." I heard the words all in jumbles and could barely discern them as my consciousness slipped way from me. "None of us want you gone."

* * *

Holding my head, I heard the coachman as he called out my name to tell me we had arrived to the mansion. Getting out and still grimacing from my pain, I thanked him and begin to walk towards my room.

After that meeting with the Baskerville and my fainting, I awoke after what I thought had been several hours later. But time had actually gone by faster since the sun was already starting to set by the time I got home. Besides the aching on my whole body there was a constant throbbing that was left on my temple from whatever he had done to me.

"Claire?"

Sharon's sudden appearance took me by surprise. What shocked me more was that I hadn't even sensed her coming.

"S-Sharon, hey." I knew how weak my voice sounded but if I hadn't answered it would have been even more disheartening.

"Is...everything all right? You seem very pale."

Shit. "U-Um, I haven't really slept so well these past days. I think I'll skip dinner and go to bed early."

"Wait, Claire?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I don't know if it's been just me who noticed this but have you grown?"

"Grown?" That single word made my headache slightly less while I gave myself a look around. "Well," I reply after a few seconds of looking at myself. "I suppose I have outgrown my pants a little since last year."

"Really?" The high pitch of her voice made me cringe a bit. The only times when she used that voice was when she wanted to have some girl talk with me. "Then how about we go shopping tomorrow? I've been dying to buy some new dresses and since you need clothes too it'll be just perfect. What do you say?"

"W-Well, I kind of had some pl- eek!" The dark aura that suddenly hit me made me jump and turn towards her. The smile she had before was maintained but the atmosphere around her had suddenly become grim and quite frankly, frightening. "Y-Yes! I'd...love to go shopping with you Sharon..."

"Wonderful~" she cooed and clasped her hands with glee. "Then tomorrow morning I'll await at the parlor for you."

"Y-Yeah, sure. Goodnight!" Skirting around her and avoiding her, I left for my room and shut the door behind me. God, she scared the crap out of me when she got like that.

Dragging my feet towards the bed, I undressed and didn't bother to change into my nightgown and instead plunged right into bed. My body felt heavy like wet wool and my head was hurting much more than before. It was hard to with the pounding and aching but in the end I managed to fall asleep.

The next morning I woke up and all the pain from the night before had vanished just like that. Whatever he did had lost its effect overnight and for that I couldn't be more grateful. Getting over to the parlor, I noticed something that I had never seen before. Out in the balcony was Break and Sharon drinking tea and accompanying them was Oz...sulking and crying.

"Ah, Claire. Good morning." Sharon greeted me with a smile.

"Morning, Claire," Oz called not even facing me.

"I am not even going to ask. From the way you're beating yourself up, it's probably about Gil and you not saying something important as per usual," I replied his half-assed greeting with a deduction I had come up with.

"A-Am I that obvious?" he cried with tears in his eyes.

"Like that? Hell yeah." My comment only made him brood harder.

Ignoring him, I turned to Sharon and asked her when we were leaving. "Well, Oz-sama doesn't seem to be in such high spirits..."

"Don't worry about him, milady," Break interfered while patting Oz's head. "I'll take care of the Young Master while you are out. After all, it won't take all day. Your shopping, I mean."

"Yes. You're right." Sharon got up and faced me with a smile, "Then shall we leave?"

It took us a good hour to get ready and arrive at Reveille. We visited most of Sharon's favorite shops with her buying plenty of dresses. I, however, only got a few pants and blouses.

"Is that really all you're getting?" Her question took me by surprise. Compared to her fourteen boxes and bags that one of the servants carried, I bared the weight of my two meager bags in my arms.

"It's all I need, really," I retort with a grin while carrying the bags over my shoulder in one hand.

"Have you never worn a dress outside of necessity's sake?" she asked a bit out of context.

"Pretty much. I don't like dresses. They're uncomfortable for the job." My answer didn't seem to satisfy her though I didn't know what exactly she wanted me to say.

"But you're a girl and as such you must find a healthy balance between discovering your feminine side and your hard-working ethics," she preached standing still and pointing a dainty finger at me. Putting her forefinger against her chin, she stood there thinking until the light gleamed gleefully in her eyes. "And I think I've got the place where that balance is." Taking my hand, she dragged me halfway across town to a tailor shop that didn't seem like a place a person of status would visit. Not to be mean or anything, but the place was quite small and didn't have much on display.

When we entered the establishment, a nice young woman greeted us and it seemed like she knew Sharon for they began chatting as soon as they saw each other. After ignoring for what seemed hours, Sharon turned to me with a smile and gestured at the seamstress.

"Claire, meet Elise." The young blonde that could not be any older than her mid twenties bowed slightly at me and showed me a big smile. "Elise's family has worked for the Rainsworth family since my Grandmother was young and have handcrafted many of our dresses and gowns. And I'm sure we can find something suitable for you here. I have no doubt in mind about it."

"It is nice to meet a friend of Sharon-sama's," Elise spoke with a faint German accent. "Now, if you two would accompany me to the back, I'll start taking measurements while we talk about what it is Miss Claire would like from her vestments."

Out back was what seemed to be the real tailor shop for it was the actual workroom. A bunch of mannequins stood about and in a single, long table were countless of threads and other utensils while hitched on the walls were the fabrics used.

Elise motioned me towards a particularly empty space of flooring and took out a measuring tape and began, literally, molesting me. I supposed she noticed my fidgeting and glanced up at me reassuringly, "Don't worry. This is routine. We have to get your exact measurements if the clothes are to fit you good." She turned to Sharon and then to me, "So, what is it that Miss Claire needs fashioned?"

"Something elegant, nice, and assertive, but most of all bold."

"Are you making me clothes or finding me a lover?"

My pun went to deaf ears as Sharon continued. "But at the same time it can't be too ornate or extravagant. The clothes needed are for work and quick mobility. Something that won't impede her movements much. But at the same time it must be feminine and breathtaking!"

"I see, I see," Elise repeated taking mental note I suppose of what Sharon was telling her. I guess my suggestions didn't matter. "What do you think, Miss Claire?"

Guess it did. It took me a minute since I couldn't think of something important to add in. Then it hit me. I placed my hand over my broche and gave a slight grin, "As long as I have somewhere to put this, it's not too long or short, and I can move in it, I leave it all to your expertise."

"Oh really?" she asked taking my leg length. "For someone who doesn't seem to wear too many dresses, you seem confident that you're going to like my taste."

"Sharon brought me here for a reason, I like to think. So if she trusts you then I suppose I have no reason not to." This made her smile for some reason.

"Thank you very much, Miss Claire." After a few minutes, she finished the measuring and turned to both of us. "Well, I already have some designs in mind. As for the clothes themselves, I'll make a set of seven or eight. It'll take me a week and a half; two at most. If anything is delayed or finished earlier than planned, I'll send a letter."

"Thank you Elise. You've been a great help." Sharon showed her appreciation with a smile and already giving her a quarter pay in advance. "Please do inform us as it comes."

"Thanks again," I reciprocate and smile at her. She only nods and leads us out and thanked us for coming. It wasn't even one by the time we came back to the mansion where we found Break and Oz out in the courtyard. It seemed the little midget wanted some training. Seeing him fall with a trick of Break's reminded me a lot of myself when I was in his shoes. Yeah, and that wasn't even as bad as Break could get.

Thanking Sharon for the day, I retired myself to my bedroom taking what few things I had bought. Apart from the clothes, I had managed to buy the rest of the stuff that I needed for the White Flora. Now all I had left was to write the song and get the dance ready.

A song...huh. Writing lyrics and sing them to a melody wasn't that hard for me. Most of the times it was one of the tunes that Leo composed and I only added lyrics to it. This time, though, since I had no Leo with me and I couldn't very well go out so late for just that, I resigned myself to using one of the older ones that he had written. He never titled his songs so I had only the tune to go by. But I had one in mind since the day before and I thought it'd be nice.

It took me very well till past dinner to think up the lyrics. This one turned out to be one of the few that took me a while to figure out words for. But in the end, it turned to be a nice melody with a good meaning behind the words.

I turned in for the night and started on the dance routine the next day. That...was a little harder since the song was a bit slow to begin with. So although it took me most of the day, I somehow managed to do it and come up with something.

By the time we had dinner and I came back to my room, I was beyond exhausted both mentally and physically. Putting everything that I was to take tomorrow into a neat pile on the side, I went to shower and changed for bed. Once under the covers, slumber didn't take long to win me over.

* * *

The day finally came and that morning I woke up at four to leave for Sablier. I had dressed simply and instead of my coat, I put on a cloak that would cover me well from head to tow. Not many coachmen were awake or willing to take me to it but in the end I found one. In the end, it took almost an hour to get there. But once there, I took my bag and headed for the House of the White Angel.

At the doorstep, I knocked lightly so as to not wake up the children but loud enough to be heard from the small church nearest to the door. It took a few minutes of waiting but soon it was Sister Fiona who opened the door for me already dressed for the day. Funny how they woke just as the day broke but woke the children some hours later to begin their day.

"Oh, my dear Claire," she welcomed me with a grand smile and a big hug that I returned. "We all were awaiting your arrival. We didn't know when you'd get here but we figured it'd be before the children awoke."

"Yes, I'm glad to be back here, Sister Fiona." With that out of the way, she motioned for me to go inside. As she guided me towards a vacant room, I began saying hello to some of the other sisters that were still here and got acquainted with some new ones that had come to work just recently.

Fiona opened a door from the many that were at the second floor. "Sorry we don't have anything else, dear. Some new children have come over the past year. Hope it is fine."

"It's excellent, Sister. Thank you again for letting me do this," I explain to her while leaving my bag on the bed.

"Then, I'll leave you to your business." Thanking her one more time, she left me alone to be in the room. Frankly, it didn't look any different from my old room from almost a year and a half ago.

Well, I'll start then. Ridding myself of my garments, I dressed myself with the gown that I had bought before. Once I had correctly adjusted it, I placed my cloak over it to hide it from sight completely.

One of the rules of this made-up ceremony was that the one performing needed to be unseen by all until the appointed time but that the robes and all needed to be worn throughout the day. That showed the dedication to the festivity that the doer held.

Going around the bed and towards the window, I watched the sky that rarely let many sunlight through. Below, I saw the back of the house were one of the many trails met to a dead end; a cliff that I had seen many a time before.

I still had plenty of time, so some practice before the actual thing wouldn't be so bad. Slipping my feet onto my shoes and tiptoeing my way out back, I got out without being noticed. Once outside, I started heading towards the cliff that wasn't that far off. I didn't really know where the fall led but I really didn't want to find out. Instead, once there, I stood a good distance away from it.

This felt like a really good place to practice for me. The children couldn't accidentally stumble upon this place because they weren't allowed back here. Leo and I had discovered it and was where we came to practice for this.

So, just like before, I began to rehearse the routine while mumbling the words to myself, careful not to step too close to the edge.

Yet the more I did, the more a pain came to my head. One that seemed similar to the one last night but this one spread out from my head towards my insides. Was I falling ill? No, I couldn't. Not today. Tough it out, Claire. If only for today you have to get through it without...

Shaking that thought out of my head, I let my thoughts vanish as I concentrated on my steps. But for some reason, the more I concentrated the more I sensed something wrong. Soon, I wasn't dancing to the steps I had made yesterday and I was mumbling a melody that I thought I had heard before. One night late in the evening when the moon was high in the sky and silence helped echo the words further away. The thought made me halt for a moment as I repeated the tune in my mind. For some reason, words were being placed into my head as if those were the lyrics to that melody.

_**At the end of this artificial paradise**_  
_**Buried deep in the earth's rotting core with no life**_  
_**I must sing out these prayers of merciful pleads**_  
_**Alone I atone for sad past deeds **_

The words were but a mumble to myself. Unconsciously, it seemed that I had taken my shoes off and was now barefooted on the cold ground.

_**The cruel past which had eventually lost its way**_  
_**Caged the weeping voices that I have weaved to this day**_  
_**On the axis of harsh repeating history**_  
_**I am vowed to do all that fate says**_

How...nostalgic this sounded. Although I didn't know from where they originated or why I knew them, it felt...right to sing this. Slowly, my bare feet started stepping to the song I sang.

_**I lived oblivious to all that still exists**_  
_**Straining out just to cling onto life**_  
_**Lullabies of the sun, songs of the rain undone**_  
_**A kind soft requiem I've spun and sung**_

_**The road to paradise ends shining out with light**_  
_**Even so, the warmth of all helping hands**_  
_**Still could not stop nor reach the cruel place**_  
_**Where I'll meet ends**_

By then my body had started dancing around by itself, movements that I knew from past practices and those that I had no idea where they came from. My voice became louder and louder but at the same time my headache had increased in its pain. Not only that but it seemed to be spreading down towards my throat. I knew this feeling, it hadn't come with the head-splitting migraines but it was the same one I knew from before. My throat...it was burning and it hurt so much. Yet...I kept singing.

_**At the bottom of the world dying out and decaying**_  
_**Imprisoned I must sing out this hope**_  
_**To all who've lost in this fight and died with the passing time**_  
_**Forgotten and left erased**_  
_**Even with my despair reigning out through my tears now**_  
_**Without doubt my weak smile will surely remain**_

At finishing the verse, I felt the warm liquid that began drowning me. I felt it overflow and slip down my chin and before I knew it, everything turned black.

* * *

A little girl sat out in the corner of her room, weeping from the immense sadness that crushed her. Her hair loose and her bangs covering her eyes somewhat only let a tiny gap were her eyes could be seen shinning a bright scarlet. Her tears, however, glazed her eyes over with grief and her lips were in a taut line trying to keep her sobs in.

"Claire?"

The voice calling out to her as warm and caring, and the silhouette of a man approached her. Without a second thought, the girl launched at him to embrace him. "I'm sorry!" she apologized against his shoulder with a shriek. She kept saying her apologies more and more while the man soothingly rubbed her back.

"What happened?"

"H-He yelled at me. I didn't know that he would be mad at me for touching that flower. It was just there on top of the piano and I thought it was so pretty. B-But he yelled at me—" her sobs won her out from the explanation. She had never seen him that angry, specially at her. He was always so kind and gentle. Never...like that.

"He—" the man's sudden voice caught her attention from her crying. She buried her face on his shoulder as the tears fell with some interruptions from her hiccups. "He treasures that place and that flower very much. Someone...he cared very much about loved hearing the piano and the flower was a present from him to that person. It was the first present she ever accepted from him. Now that the person is gone, he's very protective of it." He pulled bangs away for him to see her face. Her eyes were red from her crying and her cheeks puffed and pink. He gently brushed the hair away from her face and put on the clip that he had found around while trying to locate her on to keep her face clearly visible. "You have to understand that he did not mean what he said to you."

He picked her up in his arms while she clung to him and walked out of the room to another down the hall. Claire recognized their destination as his parlor and when they entered two little figures turned to face them. One with coal black, wavy hair and the other a crop of gold.

Shy, Claire simply tucked herself away as much as she could on his shoulder. Ever since _he_ had left, she had become very introverted. She had stopped being the little cheerful girl that she used to be. Her bright colorful world had fragmented into a mess of greys.

"Master!" the two boys turned and called in unison as they entered.

"Who is she?" the boy with gold hair asked with a tilt of his head. "Is she okay?"

"Is she crying?" the raven haired boy inquired as well only making Claire more conscious of herself.

The man placed her on her feet but she fidgeted back behind his leg hiding her face and peeking curiously at them. "Her name's Claire." He then turned towards her making her glance up at him, "Claire, these two are brothers. They're Gilbert—" he motioned his hand towards the raven haired one who smiled and waved. "And Vincent," the latter, gold haired boy waved but skidded towards his brother's side. "Would you say hello?"

"U-Um...hi," Claire's faint voice came through and wasn't betrayed by her prior crying. But now that she was at eye level with the two she gasped at seeing Vincent's eyes. "Ah! Your eyes?!"

"Oh!" Vincent gasped starting to fidget with his hair so that it would cover his eyes. But Claire, loosing all her previous nervousness, leaped over to be before him and used her hands to wipe away his own and his bangs.

"Don't do that." She cupped his cheeks with her hands as she stared directly into his eyes. "So pretty! Your eyes are red too!"

"What do you mean?" Gilbert asked confused by what she had said. At turning her head towards him, Gilbert gasped when he saw two scarlet irises staring back at him. "Y-You too?"

"I love red!" she exclaimed and spun her head back to Vincent with a smile on her face. Taking his hands in hers, she gripped them tightly and chirped, "But I love Vincent's more because one's red and the other's gold. They're so beautiful!"

Little Vincent fidgeted around with his feet from his nervousness. A light blush came to his cheeks before he turned to face her with a small smile. "Thank you."

She nodded and gave him a big grin. "Let's go play, yeah?"

"And your lesson?" the man asked making her turn up to him.

"Lottie one-sama and Fang oni-sama are busy, apparently." Her bright demeanor suddenly returned to its glum state as she turned to face the floor. "And oni-chan won't listen even if I ask him. He always avoids me or says he has more important stuff to do."

Silence came over them but Vincent was the brave one that broke it with his loud voice. "Then I'll play with you! If you're brother doesn't then I'll play in his stead!" Anxiety suddenly broke out in him making him fidget and glance up at the man, "I-I mean, if Master let's us."

The three glanced up expectantly at the man who only nodded curtly shortly after. "Really?" Claire exclaimed and squealed at knowing she would have someone to play with at last. "Let's go outside and have some cakes!"

"I'll be happy to," Gilbert said with a shy smile.

"Yeah!" Vincent called out while the two took each other's hands. "See! You won't have to be alone anymore." Feeling thankful, Claire came up to Vincent and Gilbert and gave them both a chaste kiss to their cheeks.

"Thank you, you two." Both seemed surprised but Vincent was the only one to blush heavily turning bright red. Gilbert laughed about it with Claire joining him. It had felt like an eternity but she could finally manage to laugh again. Even without her brother she now felt that she had these two friends that wouldn't leave her. She felt safe and cared about again. And it was all thanks to them.

Gilbert and Vincent.

* * *

_**Ooh~ more mysteries! Gil and Vince seemed to have known Claire but how did this happen? Well, hopefully, we'll find out in the next one ;D**_

_**The song used in this chapter, and all credits of the lyrics, go to ChuMeiStudios and their cover of Synchronicity: Paradise of Light and Shadow. Love that trilogy of songs and I wanted so bad to use some of the lyrics cx  
**_

_**Thanks for reading and stayed tuned for the second part of this double upload :D **_


	17. Hide and Seek

_**The second part of this upload comes now :D All the thanks I have to give for now are for the people who are reading this right now cx Hope you enjoy it. We're almost at the midway point of the rewriting xD **_

_**So let's get to the next chapter~**_

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

**_Hide and Seek_**

* * *

My head swam once I opened my eyes. I didn't know why but my head was about to burst, my eyes were sensitive and I swear I could hurl at any time. At shifting around I finally noticed the light, feather like pillow and bed beneath me. I was back in my room? But...how?

"Claire, are you okay?"

Turning my head with what little strength I had, I found Leo at the foot of my door. My arms seemed unwilling but when I tried to sit myself up, Leo was already there by my side helping me.

"W-What—" I grabbed my throat where a slight burning sensation came. Had I thrown up earlier? It certainly felt like it. As if acid had coursed through it. The hushed and raspy voice that had spoken one word was barely recognizable as my own.

"Try not to talk," he commented quickly and picked up a glass off from the nightstand beside my bed. Pouring water in it, he gave it too me and only at that moment did I realize just how thirsty I really was. Without thanking him, I drank the whole thing down in seconds but still wanted more. After pouring three more glasses and seeing that they weren't quenching my thirst, I decided to simply chug down the rest of the jug of water he had brought me. At least after finishing that my yearn had subsided somewhat. My throat felt less on fire, and at noticing that my hand went up to massage it. "Does it hurt?"

"It was burning a little. But it's going away, I suppose." Gazing at myself I noticed that the dress I had changed into was gone from me. The only thing on my body was a nightgown. "W-Where's...my dress?"

"Sister Fiona took it off of you. If that was your ceremonial gown, I suppose you're lucky. Only your cloak was soaked in blood."

Blood? Images rampaged through my mind as the events of that morning came rushing into me. I had been singing in the back near the cliff. It was a song that I didn't know but that I sang and danced to. Even when I felt something beginning to fill my throat as it began to burn. I remember loosing consciousness and when I was slightly regaining it, I remember the sisters calling out for help. I was already in the nursing room and they were keeping me face down as...some warm and thick liquid came out of my mouth. It tasted like...iron.

Blood. If I wasn't wrong, they had brought me here after they were sure I had heaved out all the blood that had been pouring out of my throat. Had something cut me? No, that's dumb. But if not that then...what?

"She told me you were out on the back, near the cliff. Where you practicing?" he asked in a glum tone that I recognized.

"I'm sorry I didn't wait for you. I didn't think that this would happen again?" Yes, of course he sounded sad. He hated when I went out on my own. After all...this wasn't the first time this has happened. Specially this day. "It's been a year—"

"But it still happens every time," he added making me feel all that much more bad about it. There was silence for a second before he spoke again. "Maybe...you shouldn't do it."

"What?"

"Don't perform it, the ceremony. If it were to happen again it might not be just some. You could drown in it. It's too dangerous."

"You're being irrational. I'm not sick or anything, and this has nothing to do with me singing today. Seriously, Leo—" without warning, I got out of bed and went over to the closet to find my dress, tidied. Glad about it, I took it and placed it on the bed while Leo complained. "You're starting to sound like some superstitious person. You're smarter than that."

"I'm not being superstitious!" he countered raising his voice a bit. "I'm being cautious. It's been like this the past times that you have done this for this exact date. How much more proof do you want?"

There wasn't any denying he was right. And yet... "I won't stop it. But...if it will help you relax, I promise you that I will stop if I feel any pain." That seemed to calmed him a tad bit since he knew firsthand that once made, I didn't break any promises.

"I guess—I can make do with that for now," he agreed with a heavy sigh. Coming up to him, I came and hugged him tightly. I knew he worried and that he did so for my own good. There was nothing I thanked God more than for that.

"Am I interrupting?"

At hearing that irritated voice, I let go of Leo and found Elliot standing at my doorstep with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.

"What are you so annoyed about?" I inquired standing beside Leo with a smile.

"I-I'm not annoyed." Not coming into the room, he simply faced Leo. "I came to check on you and to tell Leo what Fiona told me. It seems like some of the kids went out again without permission. Asked us if we could go out and search for them."

Reluctantly, Leo glanced my way, concern still etched on his face. Giving him a smile of reassurance and a nod, I push him towards Elliot. "Go on, you two. I'll be here waiting. And no more practice, I promise." With that they both left the room and the house, leaving me behind there. Changing back into my dress, I used another cloak to cover myself up. Also, I tied a nice ribbon to my neck like a choker and on it placed my broche.

As I had promised, I didn't go out to practice anymore and instead stayed inside the house helping out the children and sisters as they decorated for the White Flora. It seemed that they were even more enthusiastic than any year, perhaps because they hadn't seen me since I left. Many had grown, few had been adopted as I was told, the small number that weren't there and hadn't been adopted, well—I knew what had become of them.

It had been a good hour since the two went out looking for the missing kids. Worried, I approached Sister Fiona and asked her about the ones that they had gone searching for.

"Well, besides Rachel and Ben, I noticed Phillipe missing too."

"Phillipe? Is he new here?"

"Yes, he came in a few months past. His name is Phillipe West, I believe."

That name...it was the boy from back at Reveille. The one whose father was Grim's contractor. With a grimace on my face I nodded to her as thanks and continued helping the kids. It must have been rough finding out that his dad was gone and having to come live here. Such a radical change. After another half an hour without a sign of them, I went outside to wait for them.

I practically waited the rest of that hour until I saw two silhouettes in the distance plus the one short other that I supposed was one of the children. But the instant I saw three that I recognized I couldn't help but grin.

"I feel overwhelmed with your constant stalking," I joked when Oz, Gilbert, and Alice came close enough to hear me.

"Claire!" Oz exclaimed with a grand smile on his face. "And here I was wondering where you have gone to."

"Here I am," I called with a snort while extending my arms invitingly.

Intending to greet the other two, I was rudely interrupted when Elliot simply opened the door and went in himself. Once Leo reached me, I sighed, "Let me guess. The Young Master's mad because he met with Mr. Vessalius here."

"Yep," he answered with a slight giggle. Going inside, we headed into a small living room where we were given some privacy to speak. Leo had taken Phillipe in and had joined us for the talk. Well, if you can say that of Elliot yelling at every little thing that Oz said.

Soon enough, Oz came to ask about Phillipe. Then he began to apologize to him about not keeping his promise. Like I had thought before, promises like those were easier said than done.

"What's that?" Phillipe called out, his voice plenty confused from what Oz had said. "Nevermind that, listen Big Brother. I got another call from father the other day!"

His...father?! But he was dead! Before I knew it, Leo left with Phillipe out with the other kids.

"What's going on?" Oz couldn't have sounded anymore confused. "Phillipe's father is—"

"Dead." Elliot's sudden input took me by surprise. "William West was killed as an Illegal Contrator. But it seems that he doesn't want to believe it."

"Poor thing," I mumbled to myself. "He must be in shock from it all to think so."

Just after that, Oz began explaining what happened that night when William West was killed. It must have been hard doing so with the boy just outside.

But, out of the blue, Elliot came out with something that I hadn't heard about since almost a year ago. "DId you hear anything from Phillipe...about 'head-hunting'?"

"Elliot! Oz has no connection to that!" Gilbert exclaimed grabbing everybody's attention. Frankly, I would have yelled too had my throat not been hurt before.

"If you don't know anything then—get out!" Elliot's sudden outburst made me get up from my sit. He began manhandling Oz and Gilbert and eventually kicked them out of the House of the White Angel. Before closing the door, though, he called out towards Oz. "Had I known you were a Vessalius...I would have never saved you back then!"

"That's not true!" Oz's response came out loud and clear. "Even if you had known my name then you would still have helped me escape from the Baskerville's, Elliot!" But without hearing anything else from him, he closed the doors.

"That was very rude of you, Elliot." He began walking away while clicking his tongue but I wasn't having none of that. Pulling him back and down to my height, I stared at him in the eye before continuing. "You're not that cruel of a person. It wouldn't have mattered had you known who he was, it isn't in you to ignore a person in need of help. You're much kinder than that." And finally something came out of me that triggered old memories that I didn't want. "You're not your father. His sick hatred isn't yours to bear."

"Don't you talk about him like that. He's a good—"

"If you finish that sentence, I swear I'll gut you." My violent threat hit him hard and frankly it hit me too. I had never threatened Elliot before but then again we knew two different sides of the same man. "You asked me a long time ago why I was scared of your father. I'm not anymore. I realized after all this time that what I felt wasn't fear, it's hate. And if you ask Leo, he'll tell you that he earned it so. W-What he did...I'll never forgive him for it." Taking a deep breath, I relaxed and tried again. "But I won't break your stupid delusion. If you want to find out, you'll do so when you see how wrong he really is."

"Claire? Elliot?"

I let go of Elliot before Leo sees us. He comes to us with a perplexed look on his eyes, "Did you throw out Oz and the others?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Such a pity," Leo admitted. "Why where they here at Sablier?"

"Who knows...maybe they're heading to Pandora."

"Nope!" Two little siblings were besides us and had been the ones that had spoken when they overheard us talking. "We met big brother out there, and he said 'I want to go to the inner part of that hole'."

"Elliot. That can't be good."

Before they could even say anything I was already opening the door. "Where do you think you're going?" Elliot demanded from me. Yeah, after my little speech he was livid.

Glaring at him, I turned to face him before saying, "After them, of course. Oz is going to get himself killed down there." Yanking the doors open, I started heading out towards the chasm.

"Claire, wait!" What did he want now? Deciding to ignore him, I kept going until his hand yanked at my wrist and halted me.

"What?" I growled under gritted teeth.

"We're going with you."

"No."

"What?!" Elliot exclaimed out loud mad that I had rejected him.

"Neither you nor Leo posses Chains. If anything, you'll be a liability. I can't have that."

"But—" Leo interrupted getting my attention. "It's better than going alone in there right? You don't really want to either, do you?" Averting my gaze, I hated how much he knew me.

"If so, we'll go with you," Elliot added.

"Dammit, guys. It doesn't matter, I have to go—"

"Claire?"

Their voices barely reached my ears. Something else had come over them and had taken my attention completely.

_**In the ceaseless cradle of time**_  
_**Nightmares trap and chain me in lies**_  
_**Even as my senses turn cold you sing**_  
_**Softly out— Gently now— A lullaby of truth**_

Who is this...? It sounds so familiar. Out of the blue, a high pitched cackling interfered with the singing. A sudden chill ran through my body making me hold myself.

"Claire?" Elliot's voice reached me after I recovered my hearing. Not just that...he had grabbed my shoulder to make me react. Had I gone deaf to their voices?

"I-It's—S-Something's wrong."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked me.

"I have no idea but—" The cackling came again and this time I recognized it. Along with the words it spoke.

_"Hurry, hurry little one~ Or I'll catch the little rabbits before you do."_

"Hurry." My voice was cold and aloof but I couldn't muster any emotion at this point other than terror.

"What?"

"We must hurry, before something gets to them."

If that thing was after them then...I needed to stop them. Something wasn't right. Something bad was going to happen. I could feel it. It would happen and we needed to stop it.

_When the cycle of one hundred and eighty moons has come and gone is when a new sage shall rise. The shadows and voices of our ancestors shall awaken and thus shall a new reign come to be born. _

_All light shall vanquish the darkness. _  
_All darkness is born from light. _

_"Ready or not—here I come."_

* * *

_**Short. I know. But since I'm using the old version as a template to rewrite, there was bound to be a couple of chapters that were short like this one.**_

_**Again the lyrics and song were from **__**ChuMeiStudios**__** and their cover of **__**Synchronicity: Requiem of the Engless Spinning World.**_

_**Hopes you liked it and stayed tuned for the next one c;**_


	18. At Abaddon's Door

_**This is a very emotional chapter for me TwT soon you will see why. I'll just thank you right now for reading up until here and hope you don't hate me after this chapter.**_

_**As for the title, well an easy google of the name Abaddon leaves it clear to why I chose the name. Wikipedia helps too c;**_

_**Let's get into it then.**_

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

**_At Abaddon's Door_**

* * *

How fast can a blonde brat, a maladapted nanny, and a damn rabbit go in the middle of fucking nowhere!?

**"Relax. We'll find them."**

"It better be fast before I blow a fuse," I mumbled under my breath to Chronos. The more we walked into the chasm the more I hated myself for giving chase and not giving myself time to change into a more comfortable outfit. These slippers were really thin and I could feel every rock underneath my feet. "I swear if we don't find them soon I'll be going berserk on this place. Damn be the cost."

"That's true!" Leo exclaimed with a grin. "You hate dark places don't you?"

It ticked me off that he said it with such glee. He was clearly enjoying my obvious distress at the situation at hand. "Please, calm down. You worry too much," I reply with heavy sarcasm.

"Be quiet, both of you!" Elliot called out a bit annoyed at our rambling. "The sooner we find them, the better." Following the Young Master down the hole, we continued our way.

But when I gave a wrong step on a brittle rock, I slipped and fell. Or so I thought but I didn't feel the hard floor on my face from the fall. Instead I felt a pair of hands holding my waist and the smell of sandalwood and lavender.

"Try to be more careful." Putting me down on my feet on a floor clear of pebbles, Elliot didn't say much more before letting me go. Damn, when the hell—

"You all right?" Turning to face Leo and snapping out of my daydream, I assure him I'm fine before going on. Passing me, he went ahead and went to Elliot's side as did I shortly after.

Weird. This place was freezing. Holding myself, I watched at the air became denser and I noticed it got a little harder to breath with each step. Again, smart on my part for keeping these clothes on. Not.

"Claire?"

"Huh?"

"Are you sure you're fine? You stopped." Just then I realized that I had, actually, stopped walking while I was lost in my thoughts.

Shaking my head and holding my cloak closer to myself, I reply, "I'm fine. Just cold. It must be the fog."

"Speaking of which," Leo commented shortly after. "Isn't the fog getting thicker?"

"Ignore it," Elliot replied to his cautions.

But I had to admit that Leo had a point. And it wasn't just the fog, something felt heavy in the air. Regardless of those tiny things, shouldn't something have popped out by now? I mean, Sister Fiona had always warned us with stories about this place. The poisonous gas, the monsters, the people who've gone missing... Surely by now we must have encountered some—

In the blink of an eye, the scenario changed before us into a bustling town. The people coming and going, the cherry blossoms that fell in the spring breeze, the smell of foods and goods that came and went.

All this...I knew it. Remembered it, somehow. If not my mind, it must have been my body. My mind reeling with the feeling this place gave me, I raised my hand trying to catch a petal.

I knew this town...

"Sablier..."

But just when I was about to catch it, another's hand caught my own and began dragging me outside where the town began to vanish behind me.

"Don't look!" Elliot barked as he dragged me while Leo followed suit behind us. "If you move on with a strong mind, you won't be caught up in the illusion."

"Ah~"

That voice...

"What cool words those are...boy~"

Before any one of us could say or do much, I felt Elliot's hand slip from mine when we turned to cover each others' backs as decrepit creatures surged from the darkness. Lottie began explaining what these things were.

People. Those who had wondered into this place and had been affected by the nearness to the Abyss. That explained the missing people. So the rumors _were_ true just not quite accurate.

"Leo! Claire! Stay close to me!" Elliot bellowed but when Leo didn't respond we both turned to him.

Before I could react at the threat, though, something caught my body and strung it tight bringing my arms and legs tightly together. Hearing the gun go off, I brought my head up to see Elliot barely evade the shot that Leo had fired with a scratch.

When Lottie caught Elliot with her whip by his throat, I thrashed against the strings holding me and I would have broken them with Chronos had I not felt a steel blade against my throat. Gritting my teeth, I only heard her crazed cackle while she spoke, "It's Chronos! Chronos! Duldom sure would lo~ve to have a taste of you!" Resorting to other, more pathetic attempts, I bellowed at her.

"Lottie! Let them go!"

"Ah! You remember me now~" she cooed with a malicious grin on her face. "Then you'll know just how merciless—" she tightened the whip on Elliot for emphasize. "I can really be!"

No! But even moving was useless because the moment I tried, I heard Zwei behind me. "Move and Lottie will behead the brat~" No...No! I can't move. I can't even use Chronos! Something...something was suppressing his powers!

Out of nowhere, I heard Zwei give a sharp breath a second before the strings around me loosened completely. But before I had time to reach the others, a hand grabbed me and snatched my hand away.

"Stop right there!" I heard Lottie yell.

"I can't!" It was him—the Baskerville boy. "There's no more time left!" And just as I yelled after the two that I was leaving, the boy hauled me through some opening and everything went black quicker than I could tell.

My breathing quickly became shallow but then just as fast came to me. I hadn't even noticed that I had closed my eyes until I opened them at hearing the wind blowing.

Once opened, I stared in awe at the scenery before me. It was like nothing I had seen before. I was almost certain it was another illusion. It had to be. No real place could ever be this beautiful. A green prairie came to be out till it disappeared behind the horizon. Birds and butterflies came and went with the warm breeze. My body wasn't cold anymore, and instead the warmth of the air gave me a sense of nostalgia.

"Where...am I?" I whispered my voice showing the amazement that I felt.

"It's the Gray Garden." Spinning on my heels, I saw the boy cladded with his red cloak. The lilt of his voice gave this place a whole new level of melancholy to me. For some reason, when I heard his voice immense happiness as well as sadness overwhelmed me. "This is a manufactured space, one created by the first White Sage. It is where the Ceremony of Beginnings is performed. It is where darkness and light fuse as one being. It is what occurred to the First and all the sages after her. And so it shall happen to you. This is where I'll finally liberate you of your shackles."

"W-What are you ranting on about!?" I yelled stepping back and glaring at him. "Are you going to try and kill me again? Like you did all those past times? Like you tried back at Sablier!?" Before I knew what I was saying, I spouted out what I really wanted to say. "If that's what you want, fine—kill me! But first tell me the truth. Who are you? H-How do you and I know each other?!"

He remained silent for what seemed to be forever. But soon enough he heaved a sigh before his hand started reaching out towards his face. That's when his fingers grasped the mask around him while the other hand pulled down his hood. In the matter of seconds I gaped in shock at what I saw.

Dark hair...and a face I had seen one too many times each time I looked in the mirror. If anything separated us, it must be the scar that traveled, slanted across his face and his eerie, piercing scarlet eyes. But leaving that aside, it was like I was back in those memories with that same boy. "You know who I am, Clarice."

"Cloude." Before I knew it, the name had spilled out from my lips along with something warm that I felt go down my left cheek. It couldn't be... I didn't want him to be a Baskerville. I didn't want him to be my enemy! But no matter how much I drowned myself in denial, all of it rang true to my heart.

"Yes, _ixote dei luna—_"

Sister of the Moon. From what little I knew and remembered, that was what those words meant in our native tongue. The language of _our_ people.

"I'm your_ ixoto dei les esterelles._" Brother of the Stars. "But sadly, the reunion must be saved for another moment. The time's drawing nearer even as we speak. The darkness shall leave you and then I will vanquish it. I'll end this despicable cycle."

"Y-You didn't answer my question. Are you going to try and kill me like at Sablier?" I didn't know why but my voice had become a little more calm even though I was dying from anxiety in the inside.

He shook his head slowly before coming to meet my eyes. It never ceased to amaze me when I gazed at him how similar the two of us were. Twins, after all.

"It is _she_ I am after. The one mother said lurked within you. At last, I will fulfill the promise I made to her. I will end the White Sage's curse and it's origin. Siva!"

I didn't have time to move or even blink. Before I knew what had happened, Cloude had gone through me with Christ. It hurt me so much that it drove me to my knees. The blood quickly poured from the wound and it made me unconsciously reach up to it. But the more I tried putting pressure to it the more I came to realize that I wasn't injured. The blood that was pouring wasn't mine because my blood wasn't...black.

Whatever he had done had wounded something in me that hurt me all the same but left no mark. I suddenly recalled something that Chronos had told me about Christ. It was an exorcising blade. It could be used for physical offense but also to purify evil from a human soul. Then what Cloude had done—

My thoughts were broken when I felt another wave of pain before the last of the blood came down to puddle around me. Suddenly it came to move around and began to form a few feet before us. It looked like a body made of dark, red glass. Soon the red glossiness it had began to be absorbed and only left behind the real thing that he had meant to exorcise.

A girl that was a mirror-image of me, with long black hair and pale white skin, turned to look at us with piercing coal eyes and covering her body was a simple white chiton.

"So nice to finally be free." Her voice sent chills down my spine. It truly wasn't any pleasant sight to see my blood become the same girl that had tried snatching me inside my mirror that one night.

Cloude quickly grabbed my forearm pulling me up to stand by his side while still wielding Christ on his right hand.

"Not for much longer." Cloude's sudden declaration made my blood run cold. He intended to fight against Siva, and not only that. His aim was to kill her. But...I knew how strong Siva was. She was able to control my body and use not only it but Chronos' powers as well. If she was dangerous when she was contained within me, I can't imagine what she can do outside of me. Yet he continued to brandished the sword towards the girl that simply had a sneer on her white, almost a blue of hue, lips. "Tonight you fall."

"You really expect to defeat me?" Siva inquired with her fingers upon her lips, nibbling at them playfully while keeping that same sneer on her face. She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders before continuing. "But, I suppose I'll play along. At least until you stop entertaining me."

"Watch out!" Had it not been for Cloude taking me out of the way, whatever Siva had launched our way would have pierced us. Turning briefly back, I saw the countless of small, palm-sized knives that were lodged on rocks and thrown aside. "Can you fight?" he whispered to me while swiping away another hoard of throwing knives.

Could I? After that exorcism he performed, my body felt really weak and used up. But, maybe...

"Chronos?"

**"Don't overdo it. You'll be able to summon one at a time. Be careful out there."** With his say so, Hades appear in my hands without my beck.

"Leave her to me. Just focus on protecting yourself." Those were the words he left me with before he launched at Siva and began fighting her.

Thankfully, or not, I didn't really have time to put attention to their fight before more of those monsters from before in the chasm began surging from the ground. Wherever they stepped, the flowers and grass withered in a blink of an eye. Taking my chance, I began mauling them down one after the other.

"Claire!" Cloude's yell took my attention and allowed me just enough time to avoid the lance that Siva had thrown.

"It's no fun with just one of you," she cajoled while grinning. She twirled her hands about, manifesting a lance on her hand again. Just then an earthquake hit the place out of nowhere incapacitating us from attacking.

Because of the intensity of the earthquake I fell to my knees. Quickly, Cloude came to my side while we watched Siva cautiously as she glanced around, curious. Following her line of vision, I noticed that the prairie where we had been was starting to disintegrate.

"W-What's happening?!" I called out above the rumbling of the place. Cloude kept his free arm around me with his cloak over me, trying to protect me. "How's an earthquake hitting this place?"

"It's an enormous amount of power being released. It's causing fractures in my spaces. The way the energy is hitting, this space won't last much longer."

"What about—"

"We'll be sucked back into Sablier's chasm." His voice had become louder because of the cacophony of the ruptures just kept increasing. "Hold on!" Doing as I was told, I held onto him as he wrapped himself around me.

Just then I heard a high pitched cracking sound before I felt a familiar sensation. My breath was being sucked out of my lungs but because my face was being covered by Cloude's cloak, it seemed that I could gather some air from around. Soon enough I felt air hit us again and then we hit the ground hard. I groaned under the pressure of the atmosphere and sat up when Cloude urged me to get up.

Before us, we saw Sablier like we had left it but we weren't where he had taken me from. Elliot nor Leo nor Lottie were there. We must have landed somewhere else.

"Aw~" We turned to see Siva slowly floating down, elegantly as if her dress skirts had puffed with air. In seconds she was down on her feet some feet before us. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she came to sneer at us with a glare. "You're far too weak, Florence boy. Had you been stronger you would've been able to maintain the Grey Garden when that shock came. Alas, it is and now back to our game~"

"Like hell!" I bellowed and stood up to take a stance. At the corner of my eye I saw Cloude doing the same thing. And when I said the same, I meant it. His stance was the same as he held Christ with his right hand while I held one of my kukri blades prominently with my left. Mirror images. "H-Have we ever—"

"Long ago we were trained together for sometime. I noticed it just now too. We both have similar styles of fighting," he explained still having his eyes locked at Siva.

So it wasn't me. "Don't worry. I'm not going to get in your way."

I heard him scoff as if amused and this made me pout, slightly insulted. "I know you won't. Just follow my lead!" With that last breath, he launched forth making Siva feint back before attacking. Taking my chance, I went over and searched for an unprotected spot. Within seconds, I found one and attacked but she deflected my blade with a wave of her lance.

"Too predictable!" she yelled and caught me with it, throwing me aside towards a huge boulder. Regaining my footing quickly, I barely avoided the amount of knives that she had thrown towards me. But with her attention on me I noticed that Cloude had gained an opening and with it gotten an attack in. Leaping out of her way, I joined Cloude's side while Siva stood back with an aloof expression as she placed her hand on her left shoulder. Bringing her hand out she seemed to be immersed at how her white palm contrasted with the dark blood. "Would you look at that. I can bleed."

"You have a corporeal body now, Siva," Cloude called brandishing his sword. "And with it you can die. You might be stronger than any one of us. But together, you'll be finished."

"Is that true now?" she questioned with the same aloofness. "In that case, I suppose I have to rid myself of one of you." Rain started pouring down on us, my cloak weighing me down in protest of being soaked. To hell with getting pneumonia. With a whisk of my wrist, I ripped the cloak right off of me leaving much more space to battle. As if barely noticing the droplets falling on us all, she glanced skyward as the water touched her skin. Out of nowhere, a wicked smirk came to her lips that frightened me. After a few seconds, she turned towards us. "Oh dear Cloude~" she cooed at him while taking her lance again in hand. "Guess what time it is?" Without meaning to I turned towards him and saw him glaring and snarling at Siva. Time? "In exactly five minutes, it will be the 29th at exactly 12:28 p.m."

29th? 12:28? What the hell did that have to do with—

"Let's see how it turns out this time, shall we!" she bellowed and hurled her lance at us. We had no problem to avoid them but I noticed when it landed that it would do the same as Legion and multiply before hitting its target. Spinning on my heels, I let go of Hades and summon Achlys and attempted to snap the weapon out her hand. "That again!" Siva rejoiced maniacally and, as if she already knew, feinted left where I had aim and avoided Achlys before coming my way. Fortunately Cloude had caught up in time and blocked her off me. Deciding this wasn't the best way to approach her, I switched back.

Now we stood each at one side of Siva. Recklessly doing so, she turned to Cloude for a millisecond. Enough for me to take the advantage and strike. But she vanished before my very own eyes and all I saw was Cloude's eyes widened in complete dread and utterly appalled. Stopping on my tracks, I heard her small giggling behind and immediately spun around ready to take whatever was coming my way.

After that...everything that happened came like a blur.

The smell of dirt and of the fog was completely overwhelmed by the smell of blood mixed with his own. Blood was dripping everywhere and it was choking me. The small gulp of air I took just broke me as it all completely entered my system.

All I could do was scream.

_**"CLOUDE!"**_

He half stood and half knelt a few feet before me as spears protruded from his chest. The blood dripped from the tips and were literally inches from me. In a flash all that had occurred in those seconds replayed in my mind over and over.

Cloude had ran at me and pushed me behind him with vigorous force. So much so that he had thrown me off balance and had made me sit back on all fours staring up at the hellish scene.

But—why? Why did he smile as he shoved me away!?

"Florence!" I couldn't even turn to look at Siva for I was still frozen in place. "Dammit! Let me out of here!" I heard her scream and as if commanding them to, the spears faded from his body.

Yelping from the sudden shock, I scrambled to my feet to catch him, only to fall back down on my knees. He coughed and coughed and only blood poured out of his mouth and gaping wound on his chest.

"C-Cloude!" I cried out as I cradled him in my arms. He was shaking and he was losing warmth. No... "No, Cloude, please! Don't die! Don't die on me, please!"

He scoffed, something I wasn't expecting him to do in his state. Coming a bit back to see his face, I noticed that he still wore that smile on his face and something else. His eyes—it was as if the swirling scarlet was being suctioned out of his eyes. All that it was leaving behind was a new color, one I knew too well. A dark, shinning sapphire. "G-Glad it was me and not you," he huffed.

When I shook my head in protest to his sick timing of sarcasm I saw the tears fall from my chin to him. Tears I hadn't even felt prickling down.

With what little strength he had left, he trailed his hand over to my own that rested on his shoulder holding him close to me. Answering him, I came and grabbed his hand barely having enough capabilities at the moment to discern what he held against my palm as he entwined our fingers.

"I-I won't last long, you know it. I just want to give you this." He took as deep a breath as he could before speaking again, "So long as you have the makings then through this simple act of taking it's Master you shall now be. And you will find me, friend—nothing will contain you then. No more borders around, below or above. So long as you champion the ones you love."

Whispering his name while listening, I couldn't help but feel that I had heard these words somewhere before. But at him coughing it didn't give me time to think straight. "P-Please hold on! O-Oz and the others will find us and they'll help you! Y-You just need to hang on!" My words kept getting choked out of me from the heavy crying I was letting out. "This can't be happening. It's not supposed to!"

I didn't know how but that smile never left his lips. "No, it wasn't. But I couldn't be happier that it did." His words shocked me as he unraveled his hand from mine and placed it against my cheek. The tender touch only made me weep harder and grip him closer to me. "I've changed them and there's nothing I regret about it. N-No—" he coughed more violently. "I guess...I'll regret not...having spent more time with you, _sikio ixote._ But what I had will do. I'm happy...that I got...to be your...—"

He took one last breath as if intending to finish his thought but with that last one, his raspy breathing stopped. His head became heavy and the hand that was so tenderly on my cheek fell abruptly to his side.

_He's dead..._

All was silent for what seemed an eternity until I heard faint footsteps approach us and stopping not far from where we were.

"Seriously, what a pest he was. He didn't learn anything from all those times and instead threw away his life. What a waste, frankly. Well, since you give me no more entertainment, I suppose I'll send you to hell too."

Siva's words, no matter how close she seemed to be, sounded so far that I couldn't understand them. My tears still flowed down despite the shock taking control of me.

It was just impossible for to me fathom that...Cloude was dead. My little brother, my everything that I had. Even when I knew him only from scattered memories and far-off dreams, he was my family. And...I lost him. All because of my own weakness.

I held him close for one last time before lightly brushing my lips against his forehead. Mindlessly working, my body slowly laid him down and grabbed my cloak that was at arm's reach and covered him. Slowly raising to stand, my cold, senseless fingers caught the grasp of something. Bringing it up close to me, I saw the sapphire broche. The one that was identical to mine in my own hands. What little I had left of him was now resting in the palm of my hand, so fragile. My hands moved up to my bow and lethargically placed it beside my own.

"Do you still plan to pose a fight?" Her words didn't reach me but, instead, footsteps that I could faintly hear in the distant did. Gazing over my shoulder I saw the faint but familiar silhouettes of someone approaching from the fog. By the second, they kept becoming clearer and at recognizing them Cloude's words came to me.

_So long as you champion the ones you love._

Enraged, Siva bellowed, "Then—"

Suddenly, a cold sensation came over my chest and quickly spread all over my body. The pain intensified by the second but I was too emotionally drained to even react to the physical pain. It was weird how I could hear everything so clearly now: my heartbeat, my breathing, and the shouts and cries that came from everywhere but nowhere. Before I realized it my vision quickly blurred and everything went black. Everything started slowing down in me and before I knew it I couldn't hear anything.

No. I heard something still. It was faint but I could hear my heart beating. But it was starting to fade away too. Slowly the echoing it gave in my empty mind started to become slower and slower.

Then...it stopped.

I heard nothing.

* * *

_**So...yeah -w- This broke me to write a second time TwT **_

_**But it is, what it is. **_

_**Ref.:**_

_**- **sikio ixote**: big sister**_

_**Hope you liked it and please don't kill me! x3 Stayed tuned for the continuation of this tragedy!**_


	19. For You

_**Okay. Let's take a breather after what happened last chapter, shall we? Join me.**_

_***inhales* **_

_***exhales***_

_**There a little bit better.**_

_**Now let's give thanks to the people who're reading this and giving me so many views and to the awesome people that show their support:**_

_**-**__**LightandDarkHeart:**__** Yes, the mourning period -w- And liked that you caught the little KH input. BbS is my second fav game in the franchise ;3 I loved writing how they fought together and the relationship they used to have manifest itself somewhat. And yes, soon they will all know a woman's fury.**_

_**Now let's continue with the other half of the Sablier Arc now.**_

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen**

_**For You**_

* * *

_When I opened my eyes, I saw nothing. Or actually, all I could see _was _nothing. It was darkness in its purest form as it came closer to me and cradled me in its cold yet soothing arms. _

_**Where am I?**_

_I didn't know where I was and the more I thought the more the darkness seemed to lull me, beckoning me to sleep. And truthfully, sleeping sounded like the greatest idea right now. Specially, here. It was so peaceful and quiet and even though it was cold it seemed to be numbing the pain which felt nice._

_I couldn't feel pain anymore. The silence was gentle. The coldness was soothing. And the darkness was my sole companion and, really, it wasn't so bad._

_**But...why am I here?**_

_Why? I can't recall, exactly. But if I can't remember it must have not been so important. Besides, here I don't feel any pain. Why would I want to go back anyway? Here, I can sleep peacefully and soundly. Yes. I want to remain here. Out there is painful and hurtful. Out there was malice and solitude. Here there was none of that. And that was nice. _

_I'm safe here._

* * *

_**"Claire!" **_Elliot's shouting voice echoed through the empty place and resonated back to them. They—Oz, Elliot, and Leo—had caught glimpse of the fighting from afar as the twins had engaged with Siva but at arriving they had been driven back by an invisible barrier keeping them at bay. The moment that both twins had perished, the barrier had vanished. Elliot's disbelief quickly crept into him along with the dread that suddenly came over him. "What the hell did you do to her!?"

Siva simply ignored the mundane humans and drew back the blade that she had mustered out of her powers out from Claire's body. At doing so, her body, now limp, simply fell down, her head tilted sideways and her empty and dead eyes half closed.

Seconds after she touched the floor, her body glowed dimly before the light gathered at her chest and exited it. A sphere of white and silver colors swirled inside of the small object while it floated feet above Claire's corpse. Siva began approaching but was amused when the Nightray boy, out of the blue, charged at her with his blade brandished.

Really, how foolish can humans be?

Waving her hand towards him, she summoned spears that came from underground halting his attempt. More appeared from a nearby boulder to throw him away.

"Elliot!?" Oz and Leo shouted in worry and ran towards him. They still were some feet away but she wouldn't allow them to come any closer.

"Y-You bitch!" he growled through gritted teeth.

"Don't interfere." Her voice was cold and rigid. Returning to her prior task before she had been rudely interrupted, she stared at the sphere that floated aimlessly having no longer a living vessel to hang onto. Siva raised her blade once more with the clear intent to destroy it. But her clear hesitancy showed something else in her. Lowering her blade after a few seconds, she came up closer and instead took the sphere in her hands. "The Final Fate. I've imagined the feeling of this for so long and now—" the pureness of the sphere suddenly started being contaminated as dark, black smoke began to enter it and change it completely. Now instead of bright, it lost its shine and became seemingly to a black pearl. "It's really mine."

"W-What...is that?" Leo's dreadful whisper was nothing above that but she somehow heard it.

Twirling to face them, it really fazed Leo how much the ghostly girl looked like Claire. Were it not for her sick personality and that he knew the real one, anybody would have been fooled. She grinned at them cryptically while still holding the black sphere in her palms.

"This is what would have been her legacy; the heart of the heir of the White Sage. This is the heart of Clarice Luna Florence." With that said she held the sphere close to her chest as it became absorbed into her body. She heaved a relieved sigh before her skin and eyes lost that ghastly appearance. Regaining strength, both Elliot and Oz charged at her but all three were pinned down by an immense energy that brought them to their knees. "Now I'll take her place in this history." Without another word, she started leaving. Denying what was about to unfold, Elliot scowled and turned to Claire.

"Claire, wake up!" he cried out trying his best to shout and fight against the power holding them down.

_**Who is that?**_

"Come on, Claire get up!" he yelled fervently but only being answered by Siva's cackling at his stupidity.

**That's...a boy's voice. I know that voice.**

"You have to wake up!"

**No. Leave me be.**

"Claire, you can't die on me, goddamn it!"

**I don't want to wake up.**

"Clarice!" he yelled out at the top of his lungs, remembering the name—her full, real name— that he had heard. "Don't you dare leave your Master alone!"

**Alone...?**

**That's right. This place might be peaceful and quiet but...**

**I'm alone. I don't want to be alone. I don't want to go to sleep here if it means leaving El—**

_"You won't be left alone again."_

**That's true. You promised me you would never leave me be by myself ever again.**

**I don't want to leave. I want to live.**  
** I want to be alive with them! **

_**I want to go back!**_

—_So long as you champion the ones you love—_

* * *

A sharp, intense pain suddenly hit Siva drawing her to her knees while holding her chest. Hitching her breath, she watched in disbelief as the dark sphere she had absorbed exited her body and floated a few feet away from her before bursting into a bright light and shattering into irreparable fragments.

"Y-You—" her words barely audible because of the pain she was in. "You bitch! You're supposed to be dead!"

All three stared dumbfounded at seeing the girl that had been dead just a few minutes ago standing a few feet behind Siva. In her hands and standing a head taller was Star Seeker, the Final Fate swirling in its purity.

"Tough luck," Claire grinned with her vibrating spirit back. "Next time make sure I'm actually dead. Then again—" she twirled the staff about until she held it behind her against her waist while holding it with both hands. "There won't be a next time."

"Like hell!" Siva exclaimed and flung a straight row of knives her way. Not taking any chances, Claire quickly brought out Star Seeker and swept it across herself bringing out a barrier that at coming in contact with the weapons absorbed them into another space. Siva clicked her tongue before she materialized a spear and instead of aiming at her, aimed at Oz and the others. Before she even reacted though, Oz had deflected it with a blood-red scythe that he controlled like a master. Eyes wide, Claire stared flabbergasted but Oz only smiled like he would and gave a nod towards Siva's direction.

Understanding, Claire nodded before twirling the staff around once more and imbedding it on the floor before her. Reading her intentions, a bright blue circle's outline came around her and around Siva. Futilely, she attempted to escape but the ring kept her in place.

"No! It can't end like this! I was supposed to—"

"I know what you are," Claire interrupted keeping her gaze on the floor. "It was brief but I caught a glimpse of those nightmares." Just then, she glanced up to meet her enraged gaze. "You...you were the ninety-ninth one."

"You have no idea!" she bellowed, anger taking over her. "The things that happened, the things I did! I was promised my second chance!"

"And, had it not been for me coming back, you would have gotten it." Her voice was full of empathy for her. Despite her hostility, what little she had seen and remembered in that darkness told her a great deal about what Siva really was and why she was here. "But you are a past that does not belong to this present. And, as such, I can't let you roam free."

Focusing on the task at hand, Claire closed her eyes briefly giving her strength to will Star Seeker to do her bidding. Abiding, chains emerged from underneath Siva and began encaging her in binds. Siva's protests pained her but it had to be done for both their sakes.

"This isn't supposed to happen!" Siva yelled infuriated, fighting uselessly against the chains that shackled her entire body.

Claire ignored her shouting and focused giving more power as it swept across both connected rings. "I, as _Emiciaro dei la Luna et Esterrelles_, now will pass judgment. You who is responsible for the murder of Cloude Nicholas Florence and for the death of Edea Catalane Florence, I shall now give my verdict: exile. You are to be sent back from whence you came from. Back into that darkness!" The chains began dragging her down but because of the time and space passage that they were opening, the delay was great and painful.

Mercy was something that Claire had always denied about herself but, nonetheless, it was a flaw—or gift—that even now burdened her.

"What you suffered—" Claire's voice was heavy and pained as she spoke and held her ground for the path to remain open. "What _we_ have gone through, I would never wish for that on anyone. Not even you."

At hearing her words, Siva's face lowered as if taking them in. Apparently resigned to it, she simply gazed skyward, a sky that although musky and dark, it brought tears to her eyes. "How was I, _**kyrios**_? Clary did her best. Hopefully—" what was left of her head just then was beginning to sink below the darkness. "I was of some use...—"

At last she sunk completely underneath it letting only a drop emerge from there before the ring closed on the entrance, closing it for good.

She had no clue as to what Siva had meant with those words but she didn't have time to think about them. Turning back, she caught the glimpse of Cloude's body underneath her cloak. This brought a saddened smile to her lips and a single tear to fall from her left eye.

"You can rest in peace now, _**akribos**_. I'll always keep you with me and I'll always be your _**ixote.**_ No matter what...—"

Having no more strength to maintain consciousness, Claire fainted and would have fallen down had a pair of arms not caught her in time. Elliot lowered her slowly and kept calling out her name for her to wake up.

"Calm down," Leo whispered as he and Oz approached the two. He pointed at Claire and they all saw how her chest slowly rose and fell. Elliot checked to make sure and placed at ear against her nose and parted lips only to feel the warm air that she exhaled. It sent chills down his spine but it meant such a great relief that she was alive.

"God, fucking scared me," he mumbled to himself.

"We should find Gil and Alice and head out as soon as we can," Oz called out to which they agreed and left promptly after.

* * *

The Grey Garden. That was where I was right now. Hadn't I fainted? How did I get here in the first place?

"I asked Lacrimosa to bring you here. Well, your consciousness at least?"

Spinning on my heels, my eyes widened at seeing Cloude there. He wasn't bloodied or dead. He was here with me. Impulsively, I launched myself at him to embrace him. For some reason my tears began to fall but this time from bittersweet happiness. I could feel his arms coming around me to return the gesture.

"Cloude..." I cried out and pulled away to see him. But then a thought came to me and my smile turned to a frown. "I don't get it though. Are we both dead?"

He shook his head keeping his lips pursed and faintly smiled. "Only I am."

"T-Then how are we—"

"The Grey Garden is our haven. Well, what I imagined it as anyways. Lacrimosa's powers created this place and what's left of me still lingering came here for refuge."

"But, how did I live then? I was so sure that Siva had killed me after she tainted my heart."

"She did," he answered bitterly. "But you managed to destroy it and with it any chance of her or any other semblance of you to become part of your timeline. That broke the chains that were taking your soul prisoner."

"That doesn't answer how I'm still alive," I countered with a taut line on my lips.

His hand came up and brushed my bangs behind my ears before answering. "When I died I didn't just pass on Lacrimosa to you. My last wish was to give you a second a chance...after all those times. And I figured out that if you were to die that I would give you my life to come back. Or at least part of it..."

"Part?"

"Your heart was the thing shattered. It was the pieces left from my own that were inside of you that retained your soul in your body. But they weren't capable enough to bring you back." A smile suddenly broke on his face, "You should thank your friend for that."

"Friend?" I inquired feeling more lost than ever. Between when Siva killed me and me coming back to send her away everything was a big blank.

"What you needed was something that would make you want to come back. He gave you that reason. They all did." He patted my head gently and continued talking, "You must go back to them. There're things you still need to settle there."

"Yeah, you're right!" I called out with a smile and wiping my tears away. Then it hit me. "What will happen to you?"

"Fortunately and unfortunately so, only a little of my soul was left for me to meet you here. After you leave I will as well. However briefly, though, I wanted to talk to you properly at least once."

My gaze fell down to the floor at his words. "I've remembered a lot about us at the Baskerville's. Much of our childhood with mother is still blurry though. All in all, I still have many holes in it. Could you fill me in on anything."

"Don't worry," he assured me. "If you follow Oz Vessalius you'll surely be able to get there. Whatever was done to you can be undone. Those chains can be linked back together." Suddenly, I gasped when I noticed that his body started to become see-through.

"W-What's happening?"

"My time's running out," he explained glancing down at himself. "Don't cry, sis. No matter what we're twins and we'll always be together, remember?"

And oddly enough, I did. For once in my life, I remembered what he meant. It was the same thing we said when we would stay up at night at the Baskervilles, thinking of home. More than anyone else, we had each other. And as we laid there back to back and feet soles touching, warmth spreading between us, he would always say that. And without missing a beat I always answered back.

"Yeah,forever and always."

He hugged me again and this time held on tightly as if he never wanted to let go again. "Goodbye Claire."

There wasn't any helping the vast sadness and emptiness I felt at hearing him say those words. But a little part of me that still believed in the good things spoke for me. "No, it's a see you later, Cloude."

* * *

At waking up, I heard the singing of birds and the rustling of leaves. My sight was still a bit blurry from sleeping but gradually focused. My whole body was exhausted so all I could do was turn my head to have a look around.

That's when I noticed that I was back in my room...in the Nightray Household. Just then a slight stirring by my right caught my attention. Moving slowly, I caught the sight of something I had never seen before.

There, sitting on a chair but resting his upper body on the side of the bed, was Elliot with his head resting on his crossed arms and facing my way.

How sweet. Quietly and gently sitting up on my elbows, I shifted so that I could get a better peek at him. Despite having a frown most of the time, he actually had a pretty face. Finally, I managed to sit up slightly without waking him. I didn't know what came over me but my hand was suddenly reaching out and gently placed on his head. He mumbled something but didn't rouse. Having that to reassure me, I brushed my fingers through his hair, brushing it soothingly. Despite how it looked his hair was fairly soft and, compared to mind, was rather nice. Funny, if he would actually be like this when he was fully awake he could pass from slightly tolerable to actually appealing.

Then again I wouldn't want him to be anybody else than who he is. With that thought, what Cloude had told me came to mind.

Bending slightly, I brushed my hair behind my ear so it wouldn't graze and wake him before I placed a soft kiss on his temple and whispered as quietly as I could. "Thank you." Raising up again, I continued gently brushing his hair.

"Since when are you so chummy with him?"

The instant I heard Leo's voice I retracted my hand and hid it beneath the covers. "W-What are you talking about?!" I hissed loudly and turned to see him coming in through the door of the room, a huge grin on his face. He came up close and simply stared. "What?" I demanded still not raising my voice.

"Don't worry, I won't tell."

"There's nothing to tell in the first place!" I shouted without meaning to and quickly clamped my mouth shut with my hands the moment I heard groggy murmurs beside me as Elliot woke up.

"You're...up?" he asked still a bit dazed from his sleep.

"Y-Yeah," I stuttered still somewhat startled by Leo's stupid accusations.

"She's been up for quite a few minutes. Want to know what she di—"

"Shut it, Leo," I warned through gritted teeth but he only glanced at me with a goofy grin. Oh, he was enjoying this. Bringing a chair over, he sat on the other side of my bed while Elliot sat up and stretched in his. "A-Anyways...how did I get back here?"

"Well—"

So I sat there in bed while the two told me what had happened after I fainted. They had carried me not too far away and had found Gilbert. Oz had encountered his father—very awkward and infuriating situation according to Elliot— and also saw Break whom had been carried on his back by Gilbert. Strange, why was Break there? Not wanting to interrupt with questions that they didn't have the answers to, they continued their storytelling up to the part where the earthquake hit.

"Earthquake?" I repeated a bit curious while sipping at an iced tea that Leo had brought for me sometime in between the recounting of their tale.

"It happened shortly before Pandora agents reached us," Leo replied to my question.

"We had to leave quickly after and parted ways," Elliot finished for him.

"I see."

"You should've seen it," Leo cooed out of nowhere, almost amused. "Elliot was being so shy towards Oz-kun. He actually called him by his name too!"

"W-Who cares about that?!"

That gave me a good laugh. Who would have guessed. "Aw, is the Young Master embarrassed to admit that he's friends with Oz?"

"Shut it," he said through gritted teeth. Leo and I laughed but my giddiness soon went away when I recalled Oz and the others.

"How long have I been out?"

"Two days almost," Leo answered and thought for a bit. "We were expecting you to rest more seeing as...well—" He pursed his lips and only reached out to grab my hand and hold it tightly. I turned to Elliot searching for some answer but instead he did something that was so unlike him. He grasped my knee over the covers and held it just as tightly.

That's right, they saw me being killed that night.

"Well," I reply trying to bring some relief to them. "I'm all good. Guess not even that can keep me down, right?"

It took them a few seconds but both smiled at simply having me seemingly happy and kicking.

"Yeah, true." Elliot let go quickly and sat back. "You're almost like a damn cockroach."

"Very funny," I spoke sarcastically through gritted teeth.

"But you should rest some more regardless," Leo intervened before a fight could start. "You're body could still need it."

"Don't worry, I heal fast. Plus—" a huge smile broke out from me. "Oz needs me; I'm his bodyguard after all. He's practically dead without me."

"But you can't!" That one sentence from Elliot started a _whole_ other argument. After arguing for hours on end, both finally agreed on me leaving but only if I rested for another day there. Compromising with them was easy, like kids almost. "Well, if you're that well the—"

"Elly!?" Before any of us could say anything, the door to my room burst open and in came the last person I could imagine.

"V-Vanessa? What's the matter?" Elliot asked at seeing her sister, her breathing labored and her brow furrowed.

"I—I heard that she—" before she could finished her sentence her gaze fell on me. "Claire!" Surprising all of us, she ran over to me and hugged me. I was frozen still when she began telling me how worried she was about Elliot and I. After the shock had passed, I simply patted her and hugged her back.

"I'm back, Milady," I replied with a smile. She pulled back and nodded, her face bright with happiness.

"If you're done—" We both turned to Elliot who had stood up along with Leo and faced us. "We have something to show you, Claire."

* * *

After quickly changing into something neat and comfortable, the two walked me out while Vanessa followed beside me. They didn't want to say what it was they wanted to show. Simply that I _needed_ to see it.

Soon we found ourselves on the backyard of the Nightray Manor where most of Madame's flower bushes and orchard trees where. They led us through a small path and into a clearance where a lone, tall cherry blossom tree was. Since it was the middle of winter most of the petals had fallen and the tree was quite bare but what little green leaves it had gave it a very aged appearance.

The closer we got the more I became nervous about what they wanted to show me. Soon they turned about and in turn made us stop.

Elliot scratched the back of his neck, a clear sign of his own anxiety, before he spoke. "We thought it'd be best for you to see it before you left. You know, just so you knew it would be here." Before I could ask what all the cryptic speech was about, they moved aside to show me what laid at the base of the tree.

What lay there upon the grass was a small tombstone, tilted upward slightly from the top. On the black granite clear engravings where there.

**Cloude Nicholas Florence**

**Dear son of Edea Catalane Florence**  
**Beloved younger brother of Clarice Luna Florence**

All I could do was stare dumbfounded at what I was seeing. It only took me a couple of steps toward it before I felt weak in the knees and fell before it. They called out worried but I ignored them and simply contemplated the small yet gorgeous sepulcher. My hand moved towards it and gently caressed his name that was so neatly engraved on it.

"It wasn't easy bringing him back here." Elliot's words suddenly reached me when he came up beside me and crouched there. "And father threw a big fit about having him buried here. But in the end, I managed something. At least, here, you'll have somewhere to come to meet him."

I felt something behind me, close to Elliot, and felt a small hand on my shoulder. Gazing over it, I saw Vanessa's small smile, encouraging me on. She didn't know exactly what happened, you could see how left out she felt, but the gesture comforted me.

At feeling something beside me, I gazed over to my other side to see Leo kneeling down with his hands pressed together, silently praying. When he finished, he turned to me with a small smile and held my hand assuring me it was okay. "Isn't that great?"

Without hesitance, I nodded a couple of times with a smile on my face. "Thank you so much, you guys."

Closing my eyes, I did as Leo and sent a small prayer to the place where he now was, wherever that might be.

I'll cherish this forever, Cloude. This second chance you have given me. I'll make it worth the shot you gave it.

"See?" I murmured to his tombstone knowing that somehow, somewhere he would hear me. "Didn't I tell you, _**ixote**_? I promised I would see you later._"_

Without me knowing, words from my past echoed in my head. Weird, I could swear someone had said these words before to me too.

_Don't you cry for the lost_  
_Smile for the living_  
_Get what you need_  
_And give what you're given_  
_Life's for the living so live it_  
_Or you're better off dead_

Thank you could not begin to express just how grateful I am. I'm happy for what you've done. And with it I can help everyone else and do all I've set myself to.

Thank you. I'll live this life for you too. Thank you, my brother.

* * *

_**Well that certainly was a sad kicker in the beginning but in the end it was quite nice. The lyrics used in the end are from **__**Life's for the Living**__** by **__**Passenger**__**. That song really spoke to me on this chapter and specially since a year ago a very close friend of mine, who was like s big brother to me, passed away. I mourn him and am saddened every time I see his grave but I know that he would have wanted everybody to remember him with a smile c':**_

_**Ref.:**_

-_Emiciaro dei la Luna et Esterrelle: __**Emissary of the Moon and Stars**_

_-ixote:__** brother**_

_**These next two are actually Atlantean and are from **__**Sherrilyn Kenyon's**__** series, **__**Dark-Hunter Series**__**. **_

_-Akribos: __**this is actualy a real word, apprently. It's Greek and means 'dear' or 'precious'. **_

_-Kyrios:__** lord (respectful)**_

_**And those are it I'm guessing. **__**So hoped you liked this chapter and stayed tuned for the next one!**_


	20. Proof of Life

_**Hey there me again -w- Don't know if putting out chapters in such a rapid fire is good but I want to get as many out now before going back to school. In exactly a week, the hell that's being a sophomore in college begins TwT And since I was told by my doctor that too much stress was causing my constant headaches and migraines I figured, what best way of letting out steam that by doing the thing I love that is writing ;D **_

_**So you guys are basically my therapy :3**_

_**Now to give thanks:**_

_**-**__**LightandDarkHeart**__**: Haha, that you thought of Cloude that way was my whole point. That way when he was outed like that, the reader would feel tricked into disliking him and ending up liking him ;3 And thanks a lot about the language :3 That makes me really giddy and fluffy inside (^w^)b**_

_**Now let's get on with the next chapter~**_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty**

_**Proof of Life**_

* * *

"You again?" Grimacing at the head nurse's annoyed tone of voice, I nod to reiterate my being here. She huffed before motioning for me to follow.

It was already the morning of the third day after the incident at Sablier. _Very_ early in the morning. I had to wake up before the sun came out so that I could get to Bethlem by the time the asylum opened. Elliot had fuzzed plenty about me leaving so quickly but with Leo's help he got over it. Promised they would come visit once in a while though, as did I. Thankfully they were nice enough to give me a carriage for the ride here.

Now I was before another room, one that wasn't the usual playing room for us two when I came to visit.

"Um, he's here?"

"He got terribly sick a couple of days ago." The head nurse grimaced and gave out a sigh. Anybody could easily see that despite her attitude towards everyone that she cared deeply about the patients here. To her, her job was her life. "He's been in bed resting since. You won't have as much time as usual in there."

"How long is 'not as much'?"

"Twenty minutes." With that said, she opened the door and we went inside. In the room already there were two others besides_ S__kiá_, another young nurse and a guard. Just at coming in my eyes widened at seeing him laying there in his bed. "Give them privacy." The two others nodded before leaving with the head nurse following behind them. I supposed since he was in bed rest there wasn't any real threat for anyone.

Pulling a chair up to his bed, I sat and grabbed at his hand that was hooked up to some fluids. It seemed he had been asleep for when I touched him, his eyes fluttered open. It surprised me to see his dark eyes even more dazed as if that were possible. They must really have him in tons of medication.

"Were you sleeping?" I asked in a hushed voice trying not to wake him completely in case he was still half asleep.

"Mm," he mumbled closing his eyes briefly before opening them and turning to me. "Wasn't expecting you here, _κορίτσι._" It sometimes threw me off when he spoke to me in Greek, specially since it wasn't a language I had studied. "So pray tell, to what do I owe the visit?"

"How are you?"

He scoffed at my question. I was here for something, we both knew that, but I wasn't asking just out of curtsey. "I feel dandy, luv. Never better. So let us stop beating around the bush and talk some business, yes?" Heaving out a sigh, I simply sat there while staring at my hands. "Is that new jewelry I see?"

His question caught me off guard and made me glance down at my ribbon. Instead of my own broche, which was on the belt were my sheathed dagger was, I had Cloude's identical one on my ribbon. My hand reached up to it and caressed it before I answered. "It was my brother's."

"Brother?" he inquired quite perplexed but after a few seconds a small smirk came to his features. "By that I take it that you've recovered your memories."

I give him a curt nod as my answer. "Most of them, yes. I had a brother who passed away recently. And a mother, too. Albeit, I don't know much of who she was."

"You know her name?"

"Edea. Edea Florence." Out of the blue, he choked and started coughing. This made him actually sit up slightly while he hacked and I patted his back. "A-Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," he called out pulling his hand away from his mouth. "Just a fit." But the moment he pulled his hand away, I noticed the small trace of blood that was left on his chin. Gripping a towel by the bed stand, he cleaned his mouth and his hand before turning to me. "Edea, you say?"

"Yeah," I answer still a bit stupefied by what I saw. "The one who told me about her was Duke Barma. The oldest of four, remember?"

"That I do." He turned over to me once more and stared at the broche. "So, were you planning on asking me about Edea Florence?" My answer was a simply nod. To that he chuckled, and turned to stare at the ceiling of his room.

"I've only heard her name in rumors and stories of yore," he began and brought his arm up over his eyes. From that point onward all I saw was his smirk. "Miss Florence was a White Sage of a tribe. Her duty was—"

"To protect her people," I finished for him a bit annoyed that I was hearing this yet again. "I know that and I know that she caused a massacre of her tribe because she had babies. My brother and I. What about the tribe though, do you know anything more about them?"

"_I_̱_ dolofonía__,_ the murder. That's what we knew them as. They were a group of people devoted to a goddess of unknown origin. To some of us they were even considered a cult, myself included. But I was a very knowledgeable lad in my day. I would often quest far and wide for wisdom and to partake in it. And in my later years, I became aware that they had many names but only one stuck out from the rest. One that remained through many decades:_ dikastí̱rio to̱n koráko̱n._ The Court of Crows."

Court of Crows...? I get it. That's why his country knew them as 'the murder'. A group of crows _is_ a murder. "What about them?"

"After the event with Edea Florence and the massacre, it is written in books that the tribe or cult died from a rebellion. But that's just a façade kept much like Pandora's public face." With that comment, he slightly flicked my nose. "In reality there was no rebellion. Instead the tribe as a whole was divided into parts to avoid any loose ends that were caused by your mother's leave."

"Loose ends?"

"Other people, κορίτσι. Edea's individualism caused others once faithfully blind to dispute the Elders of the Court and for uncertainty to grow among the people. The division into smaller groups able to be patrolled made it that much easier for the Elders to pick out those _nonbelievers_ and deal with them. Permanently."

Unconsciously I gulped down my nervousness while he continued. "You talk about Elders..."

"The ones actually in charge of the Court of Crows. Five in total, all old cynical occultists if you ask me. They were the ones that _took in_ the White Sage each time one was chosen. I don't know what happened a decade after the massacre though, after the division. Unfortunately, a dark hole swallowed me in a chasm. My world and this one are more than one hundred, seveny-five years apart."

"A-A hundred seventy-five? That's how much time passed from when you turned out from the Abyss?" He only nodded as a reply. No wonder he didn't have anybody out there. Even if there were anybody out there he had no means of finding any descendants of his family.

"So as far as they are concerned, this is all I know," he concluded with another deep breath and a couple of hacking coughs.

"Please, let me tell Pandora about you," I pleaded to him watching him suffer. "They will have the resources to make you better."

This caused him to laugh, cough and wheeze some more. I don't understand? What was so damn funny about dying?! "There's no medicine or doctor that can help me. I'm one of the damned already. If that is all you wanted then leave. I'd like to rest now." He then slipped quietly and quickly into sleep. It surprised me that he had been so straight forward about it.

Having nothing else to do there, I simply left some flowers for him and left. The coachman then took me towards the Rainsworth mansion, our last stop. I thank him and got down meeting the great edifice before entering. One of the maids came to me in a haste. They get really nervous when someone comes in unannounced. Once I had calmed her down, she filled me in on what had happened three days ago when this side of the group had arrived from Sablier. Oz, Gilbert and Alice were in their parlor and Sharon in her own room. What shocked me were the news that Break had been on bed rest unconscious for the past three days.

She led me to the room where he rested and I thanked her before going inside the room. There was no one but him and he was just laying down there with his hand on his forehead. At hearing me coming inside, his head tilted slightly away from the door. That one gesture gave me a very odd feeling for some reason.

"It's me, Break."

"Well, if it isn't Clarice. Correct?" I supposed Oz had told him about what he saw with Siva, Cloude, and I. "I was wondering where you had gone when you didn't come in to see me the moment I awoke." It took awhile to tell him the whole thing personally. In the end, I finished by telling him that I had spent the past three days at the Nightray mansion. Two of which had been me just being unconscious. "I see. And you say that you now posses the other Chain, Lacrimosa?"

"Yeah," I answer and undo the broche from my bow. "He gave it to me and passed the contract to me. Is that even possible?" Clutching it in my hand, I pass it on to him wanting him to see it. He sat there in thought but didn't grab the broche that I was offering him. What the hell? "Hey."

"Yes, quite tragic yet opportune."

A grimace came to my face and I snapped at him, "Take the broche before I throw it at you?! God, seriously! Are you getting so old that it's making you blind?" Before anything else, I heard the swirl of the blanket before he plunged like a little kid onto the bed. What's up with him? Was it something I said? Curiously enough he was remaining me a lot of how _S__kiá_ had been act— "Break?" I inquired but didn't get anything from him. Pouting, I jerked the blanket away only to see him lying down on his side facing away from me. Again I raised my voice to ask, "Is something wrong?"

"Just a tired old man, right? I should be fine with some rest."

Grimacing, I decided to let it go for now. Before leaving I pointed towards my broche which had been left unattended by the edge of the bed nearest to him. "Hand it over to me then. If you're not well to talk then I'll talk to you later." Still lying down he went reaching for it, but was clumsily missing. What the hell? It was right there beside him.

Just then, it all clicked in. But I needed to make sure. I took a few quiet steps while he still fidgeted around and reached out for my broche just when he had found its place and touch my own. I gasped but he didn't react. He simply slid his hand back towards him and laid there.

It couldn't be. But then again, he hadn't turned towards me when I came in. He hadn't noticed me handing my broche over. He didn't even see me coming around the bed.

"Break...you're really blind?"

He didn't answer but I saw a sad smile creep to his face. A grimace came to my own along with sadness but I didn't let it show. "But—" his sudden outburst caught me off guard. "I'm not the only one incapacitated, am I?" He turned his head towards where I was. "After all, you _are_ heartless."

"W-What...?"

"Don't act dumb. You know, don't you? That you no longer have one."

This time it was my turn to look down. Yeah, I knew all right. It was while I had slept that Chronos along with Lacrimosa, to whom I was properly introduced to then, told me what was happening to me. After I woke up, my body, though rested, felt beat and tired. My face a bit paler than normal and my eyes were a bit dull. What really proved to me that they were telling the truth was when I tried finding my pulse.

To my complete shock, there was none. I was alive, literally, without a heartbeat. And the answer to that question was simple. The reason I had no pulse was...because I had no heart.

"Yeah, Chronos and Lacrimosa told me. When I destroyed the heart that kept Siva tied to this realm, I destroyed my own anchor to it as well. What's keeping me here now are the pieces of what's left of Cloude's. His second chance that he gave me." He came up to the post of the canopied bed, "I'm limited physically because of it. I can't use both Chains at once."

"And Astrovylia?"

I shook my head before answering verbally. "She won't answer my call. Maybe that one time at Sablier was just a fluke. Perhaps it was just her answering the desperate call of the daughter of her former contractor."

"So, what are you planning to do now that you know that?" he asked grabbing the blankets and covering himself.

"Follow Oz and Alice. If I can help, I will. By searching for Alice's memories I might actually remember some things that could be tied to the tragedy's origin."

He nodded and curled up into a ball before chiding at me like usual. "If that's your resolve then you best be heading out now. Oz-kun and the others are heading to Pandora to meet with Duke Barma."

"I will." Before I left the room, I turned briefly towards him. "Rest up, Break. We'll be back before you know it."

* * *

It was no trouble finding the lot that would be going to Pandora. Amazingly in that bunch was Sharon with whom, along with Alice and Reim, I shared a carriage with on the way there. Apparently, Oz and Gilbert had taken another for privacy. I didn't witness whatever they did so maybe talking about it between themselves would be best.

"So you where at the Nightray Manor these past three days?" Sharon asked on the ride over there, curious. Alice simply sat sulking beside her. It had been a good ten minutes of us trying to cheer her up. She was really down because of Oz making her go on a separate carriage.

"Yep." I had just finished my story to them. Wow, it was getting quite tiresome to repeat this story over and over again.

"So, your real name...?" Reim asked after keeping silent for the whole story. He was another curious person among them.

"It's Clarice. Clarice Lune Florence," I said, pronouncing the words with the accent of my mother tongue. Many quirks had arisen from my memories. I noticed that now, more than before, my voice started to show off a slight accent with certain words. It was quite noticeable when I spoke my language to myself. It was the same accent that Cloude had as well. "But, regardless of that, I am still Claire. I'm still that clumsy, idiot, and big-mouthed girl that you all know."

We arrived a few minutes later and a couple of guards showed us the way to where Barma was. In the end, we arrived at a library with the ahoge duke sitting below a window while reading some parchment. I suppose he was deciphering it. A lot of books were spread around him as well. We stood at a distance each while Oz began asking his question.

The earthquake at Sablier? That's right, I'd forgotten that Elliot and Leo had said something about an earthquake hitting Sablier minutes after what happened to me.

At this, Barma just opened with a story. The story of how Jack Vessalius used his body to seal off Glen Baskerville's soul. We all listened in utter shock at what he said. Then he snuck out the ace he had under his sleeve.

"What I am about to tell not even the other three dukes know about." He stood up abruptly and walked past Oz while speaking, "I have already tracked down one of the sorcerers."

Sharon then spoke up about how could he have obscured such knowledge from the other three dukes. When he compared his ethics to those of Break's, she snapped.

"Don't you dare compare yourself to Break! He won't forget the existence of 'humans'! He's not like you! He doesn't use people's consciences as objects! Stop saying such nonsense!"

A few seconds of silence came over everybody before Duke Barma replied to her outburst. "Lady, please mind your words." All of a sudden, I felt an immense pressure coming from him and noticed something forming. "You may be a lady. But you have shown no respect towards your elders. If that be the case then let me teach it to you."

Then the figure became more distinguishable to my eyes. A sudden nostalgia overcame me then at seeing a Chain that I hadn't seen since I was small. A Chain I had only witnessed once during those four years of servitude towards my old Master.

"Dodo..." my whispered words were caught in the air before he launched to attack Sharon. It was too late for me to react, she was too damn far from me!

Then I felt a strange vacuum all over the room before it burst, popping my ears and leaving nothing else behind but black feathers falling from nowhere all around the room. At opening my eyes I saw Oz had reached out to protect Sharon but the one who had really stopped Dodo had been Gilbert with Raven's power.

He and Duke Barma exchanged some words, apparently the latter knowing something about Gil's 'problem'. He dismissed Barma simply with a 'it's none of your business'.

"I shall ask about the details next time," he declared and began heading towards another door. "I'll be leaving now." After he left, Gil went to pick up his hat while the others waited. I, however, went up to Reim and spoke to him quietly.

"Reim, may I ask a favor of you?"

"A favor?"

Nodding, I simply ask directly. "I wish to speak to your Master." This seemed to tense him up a bit. If that didn't sit well with him, he wouldn't stand the next. "Alone." He visibly stiffened. Oh yeah, he was tensed up.

"A-Are you sure?" he asked really anxious. I nodded and he just sighed in defeat. He knew that I wouldn't leave otherwise.

The instant he gave me the okay I went over to Oz and the others. "Go on ahead without me. I'll catch up later."

"But, we're being guided by a servant of the duke to the sorcerer's mansion," Gil intervened with a very valid point.

Tapping my chin a couple of times I snapped my fingers at getting an idea. Just then I poke Oz's forehead and leave it there. "Don't worry. Finding a little brat, a loud rabbit, and a nosy raven can't be that hard."

I let go of him and he brings his hands up to it before his eyes went slightly wider. The only answer I give him is a grin. "All right," he answered knowing what I had meant. "We'll see you there."

After they left, Reim turned to me worried. "Are you sure you shouldn't have gone with them? That place was hard to find in the first place for a reason. It's not even on the charts!"

"It'll be fine," I reassure him. "I just wired Oz, after all."

"Wired?"

"With Lacrimosa's magnetic strings. With her powers over space, I'm capable of hooking and finding a specific magnetic field. So, Oz is like my precise compass, so to speak." Leaving the jokes behind, I become serious at what's to come. "Take me to him."

He sighs heavily once more before he leads me to the door which Barma had entered minutes before. "You should be brief. Master's already displeased because of Oz-sama's attitude." Giving him a curt nod, he opens to door to let us inside the door.

It wasn't that brightly lit but I could easily catch Barma some feet away. He was just there playing around with the caged bird that he had perched on a pedestal. Without taking his eyes away from the bird, he spoke to me.

"What do you want, Florence?" he spoke rudely using my last name. It appears that somehow, he too found out about what had transcended at Sablier.

Ignoring my sharp tongue that wanted to bark back, I stood strong and went to the point. "I won't beat around the bush with you, Barma," I told him just as rudely as he had treated me. "I'm more than sure that you are aware of my condition."

His eyes turned briefly towards me before returning to the bird once more. This time, however, a slight smirk spread across his features. "Of course I am. And I must admit that what is happening to you is most peculiar. You have no heart yet you live." At this time, he turned his entire body towards me and opened his fan at me while gloating in the moment. "You have faced death and defeated it but have no heart as a result. Nonetheless, you breath, you walk, you talk. I am most curious indeed!"

"Cut the crap." My voice became very heavy with the seriousness I felt. "Just what does this imply?"

With that he grinned out. He was truly enjoying himself with this, for some godforsaken reason. "It matters not whether you overuse your powers or not. Either way the pieces that are keeping you alive will continue to wane. Steadily but surely, this will cause your body to stop functioning."

It was hard to accept what he was telling me but in a way I was already expecting this answer. So instead I dare ask it just to make the concept that much more real.

"So I'm dying."

There was silence before he answered. "Indeed." A sudden grin spread across his face. "But—"

* * *

On the carriage ride I kept thinking about what Barma had told me. Could it be true? Is it actually possible that I—

"Miss?" My attention drifted towards the driver that had called out to me. "We're here. Welcome to the city of Tor." Leaving me behind, I watched the coach retreat before glancing around town. No one would care what I did so I went right to work.

"Lacrimosa?"

I felt a surge of warmness before I heard her voice. _"Yes?"_

"Can you tell me where Oz and the others are?" I request from her with a small smile.

_"But of course,"_ she replied nicely with a small lilt to her voice. _"Give me a minute."_

Lacrimosa and I hadn't been acquainted that long but she was a good listener. Besides, it wasn't in me to order others around, Oz excluded. When we first met in my sleep, she had taken me to the Grey Garden to speak to me alongside Chronos. They both held a completely different form to what I was used to. Chronos was a small monkey, a much smaller version of his true form. As for Lacrimosa, I had never seen her true form but the one she took then was of a full grown doe. Chronos had climbed up on her while they talked to me. She had proclaimed that from that moment onward she would be my Chain and that she would follow my every command. But I didn't do things that way. So instead, I simply told her that we would start out as acquaintances and see where that led us.

_"I've found Oz."_ To my eyes then a single silver thread started from my feet and stretched out before coming to one single direction, towards the forest.

"Thanks," I call and start heading there. Soon enough I found myself before a dark, gloomy mansion surrounded by trees that barely let a grey light of sunlight come through. It was like a haunted house or something.

_"He should be inside."_

"Of course he would," I reply sarcastically. This seemed like the set of a really cliché horror novel. Blowing a raspberry just because, I went on ahead and slowly opened the front door. At not seeing a soul I entered while listening to the creak of the door. They were close, I could feel it. But it was quiet...way too quiet.

Just then two shots from nowhere scared the living hell out of me. They had come from that door! Kicking it in, I entered what seemed to be a grand ballroom that was bear only to see the lot of them and hear Oz yelling out to Gil.

"It's a mirror!" At looking around, I noticed it too. From wall to wall, the room was covered in mirrors. It was how that girl that had been attacking them kept hiding herself from them. Shit, ain't half bad. But she ain't half as good as me.

"Chronos!" I called but I was shocked when nothing happened. Instead, I felt an empty void that gave me chills. They weren't coming. I couldn't summon them here. That's when I felt it. A high pitched ringing in my ears. It wasn't painful at first, just annoying.

A sudden pressure came over the room that made me glance up towards Oz to see him hold a huge, red scythe in his hands ready to kill the girl that he had captured underneath his foot.

"Stop it, Oz!" I heard that sentence being called by more than one person but it hadn't been what stopped him. Instead Alice had launched herself at him.

Oz, still dazed, spoke softly. "Alice...?"

"Oz...she is my prey," she called indignant yet seemed a bit sad and shocked. "You are my manservant! You can't just do as you please!"

Oz simply gazed at her and slowly the dazed look on his eyes disappeared and quickly after, so did the scythe. "Yes. You're right. I'm sorry, Alice..."

"That's enough Marie..."

We all turned towards the sound of an old man. And sure enough there was one entering the room. In a wheelchair and bald, he was dressed well and had small glasses upon his nose.

"Riitasu-sama," the girl, Marie, called out dumbfounded that the man had appeared.

"For such rudeness, I beg your forgiveness," he said with a bow of his head. "The thing you are looking for is downstairs." He then guided us down a spiral staircase. For some reason the further we went in the more a piercing pain went through my skull. My frown was a sure sign of my discomfort but I wasn't holding my head like Oz by the time we arrived at the base of the stairs. There in the small room was a large stone clad in chains and sitting atop a small pedestal.

Jack, you're there right? A piece of you was in that thing holding off Glen. Oz went up to the stone and brushed it with his fingers. The instant he did that though, sudden flashes came through my head.

Red. That's all the color I saw. Red embers. Scarlet blood. Vibrant red eyes staring at me.

The images disappeared just as quickly as they had come and they just left me breathless. Standing back to catch my breath, I simply listened to Riitasu as he recounted the stories passed down his family.

After everything else we came up to the foyer. In the end we had found the sealing stone but there was no way in hell we could take it with us. Why the hell were all these seals made with heavy ores!? We headed out and decided to leave Glooner in the mansion while we alerted Duke Barma about the stone.

But the farther we kept walking through the forest back to Tor, the more of a bad feeling I kept getting. It was very oppressive and it weighed much uneasiness on me. Startlingly, a huge seism shook beneath our feet. I had to actually steady myself on a tree to keep from falling. When it finally ceded we all stared at each other with a clear heavy feeling on us. Without missing a heartbeat, we rushed back to the mansion.

At the doors, Gilbert and Oz pushed the doors opened to look at what had happened. None of us were prepared for this.

Everyone there was dead.

They had been beheaded.

* * *

It cannot be possible for a human being to be this bored!

"I'm losing my marbles!" I yelled out in the open while thrashing my arms about. Breathing heavily, I rested once more upon the grass of the East Courtyard of Pandora. This place was huge having plenty of places on each wing. For now, the East Wing and any edifices connected to it were for Oz and his party to use. I was included in that 'party' but it had gotten boring after the third day of walking around and snooping around every nook and cranny.

A week had already gone by since we had come back from Riitasu's mansion and a week since we had seen that scene. No matter what I did images kept popping in my head and alongside them were the ones that I saw before the sealing stone. I seriously had no fucking clue what they were. Usually when I remembered something it was in good sized chunks of information. This time they weren't even a decipherable scene by themselves.

On the last three days of my nothing-to-do vacation I had gone out and done research at Pandora's library. Yet no matter where I looked I found nothing about the Court of Crows or the White Sage. I had even gone back to Bethlem a few times to visit _S__kiá_ to see how he was besides the obvious. Questions about the sealing stones and the seal itself came up even but, oddly enough, he knew nothing about them. I guess those things didn't happen during his time period. Or perhaps Jack's attempts to keep it all quiet worked real good.

**"Some training would do you good, lass. How about it?"**

"I can't," I groan while the sunlight bathes me. Today was really nice out. So instead of my usual outfit, I decided to go with something new.

A few days ago, the outfits that Sharon and I had ordered from Elise had gotten in. At least the whole trying them on kept our minds out of the lethargy that seemed to have spread throughout Pandora. I had to admit that they weren't half bad.

Today I wore one of the ones that I had put aside for casual wear. They were mostly all dresses, despite my preferences but I had to admit they weren't that bad anymore. And it wasn't even a full dress, this one. It was a two piece connected by an underbust corset. But one thing that I noticed about the designs was that Elise had a unique way of style like Sharon had said.

The blouse I wore was a puff sleeve shirt of a royal blue color but the neckline was almost nonexistent. I think it would be considered a v-neck but the buttons weren't up until a bit under my breasts and were covered by the corset itself. What covered the rest were two black strands zigzagging just barely up to were my breasts started. The shoulders and back of the shirt were held up by a wing collar that was buttoned twice and fitted to my neck. From either side of the collar, a pearl choker came down where I could attach any of my broches, to which I had decided that Cloude's looked better with this one.

As for my lower part, I was in a black skirt that was hiked up once to make a small puff in the front and the rest flowed down just a few inches above my knees. On the back I had a small tail down to a little below my knees of the same material. Sharon had also gotten me, without my knowledge, a pair of black laced, and sort of high heeled boots that came up to just below my knees.

Since it was so nice out, I decided to put up my hair for once. It was up and styled to one side.

**"Why not?"** Chronos asked confused.

"Break's out doing work. I have no sparring buddy because of that."

**"And? Drag his sorry arse out here and get going!"**

_"Really! Ever the insensitive one. How is he suppose to spar with Claire if he cannot see?"_

**"Believe me, he ain't as disabled as he makes out to be. I'm sure he's already gotten everything figured out about how to fight like that."**

"Both of you just shut up!" I finally snapped wanting to hear some silence inside my own head.

_**"Sorry,"**_ they both said in hushed voices.

Groaning again, I sprung to my feet, dusted myself and headed out.

_"Where are you going?"_

"To see Oz." That brat had been locked up in his room ever since we came back. I was tired sick of waiting for him to come back to reality. And I was about to drag him out to it. "He's been holed up in there for far too long." An ache came to my head and it made me massage my temples. "And do me a favor and keep quiet for the rest of the day, both of you. I'll get a migraine at this pace."

Oz hadn't been in his room so that meant he had gone out. Good, that mean I won't have to drag his ass out. Walking towards Reim's office to ask if he had seen them, I was surprised to see Oz, himself, coming down from the second floor towards my general direction.

Before he could leave I called out to them. "Where're you going?"

Oz turned to me and smiled. "Oh, hey Claire." He, Gil, and a very groggy-looking Alice met me at the base of the stairs. "Cute wardrobe," he commented with a smirk.

"Sharon's idea. Not mine. Although I am liking the style. Anyway, where are you headed?"

"Reim-san called for me to meet a visitor at his office," he explained pointing his thumb out in the direction of said man's office.

"His office for a visit?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? But we're going, care to join?"

"Yeah, sure. Anything's better than what I have been doing these past few hours." Which was clearly nothing but creating carbon dioxide.

After a few minutes, we arrived and knocked at the door. When Reim opened, I saw the faces of two people I wasn't expecting to see.

"Oh," Elliot called out nonchalantly and shutting the book he had in his hands close. "You're late shorty."

"Elliot!?" Oz said just as amazed as I was to see them there. Gilbert instantly started yelling and losing his marbles. He began mumbling something before the door slammed open hitting him and startling me a bit.

The one responsible had been a Pandora agent that looked just as frantic as Gilbert had been before he had been knocked down.

"Hey, Papa~" I cooed poking him while squatting down beside him. "You alive there?"

"Is Elliot-sama here by any chance?!" he called out very nervous about something. Why did I have the feeling I should be that way too? Was I hungry? Nah, can't be. I ate an hour ago.

But at hearing Elliot's name, I instantly turned to see them but they were gone from the sit they had taken just a few seconds ago. Leaving Gil, I walked over next to the desk that was closest to the chair. Walking behind it, I had to do my best not to burst out in laughter. Their faces...just priceless.

Trying to add more heat to the pot, I went over and leaned over right were Elliot was and prop my elbows on the desk to keep balance. This would hide them easy if only he would stop moving so much. Geez, seriously. Had he never played hide-and-seek? Something warm kept brushing against my thigh but I ignored it while I listened to the agent.

"Elliot-sama escaped his bodyguards and fled the mansion. It seems he's now at Pandora," he explained fervently. At that, I lifted my left heel and stepped on Elliot's foot. "And with the head-hunter on the loose I've been ordered to find him and escort him to the mansion immediately!"

That was what I was forgetting!? This only made me grind against his foot with my heel that much more until he had to grabbed onto my ankle to make me stop. Reim then managed to somehow get the guy out and give us some privacy.

"Did you run away from home, Elliot?" Oz asked sheepishly, squatting down to them. Leo simply laid out, clearly tired of hiding.

"Don't make me laugh!" Elliot shouted at him plenty annoyed. "I'm here to gather information about the headhunter! And you—" At this I was surprised that he actually stood up and grasped my wrist before shouting. "That hurt!"

"Yeah, well good!" I yell back just as fervently. "You shouldn't be roaming around when the headhunter's free! Can you imagine how worried sick Madame and Vanessa should be this very instant!?"

"Just, don't start with me!" he exclaimed and went over to Oz. Just when I was to give him another piece of my mind, Leo pulled me back with plenty of protest from my part.

At last he managed to settle me but not calm me down. I simply stood about waiting beside Leo and tapping my foot while they talked. Oz explained about the contents of Riitasu's box and a particular piece that Duke Barma had found interesting. He redrew the image as best as he could and passed it on to Elliot. I got a mere glance at the drawing but it seemed a bit familiar.

Just after Alice sniffed Elliot, hilarious by the way, him and Gil started quarreling. Ignoring them, I covered my ears from the incessant yelling from both. Out of the blue two hands chopped at both and threw them to the ground. Then, after reprimanding both, Oscar Vessalius said something that piqued my interest.

"Tea party?" I murmured back. He led us outside to the North Courtyard where plenty of Pandora members had already set up the party. A long table was in the middle with countless of deserts and tea while plenty of other round tables were spread around it.

Yet, for some reason I didn't feel like joining the festivities now. Funny how when I had nothing to do I wanted something to happen but now that there's something to do all I want is to get as far away as possible. So I came to stand back across the courtyard where I could see everybody.

From there, I caught the sight of Oz and Elliot sitting underneath a tree's shade. They were talking and bickering, mostly Elliot on the latter. Leo soon came up to them and passed some tea to Elliot. Sighing, I gazed down at my feet.

I couldn't possibly tell them. Not Oz, not Leo, not Elliot. Specially not Elliot. No, telling anybody would just worry them needlessly. They can't do anything about it anyway. There's no need to put worry about something that can't be stopped. I can't burden them with that. Not him nor Leo nor anybody else.

Out of nowhere, something pushed me from behind, pushing me forth towards them. A warm breeze came out dancing about and lightly caressed my cheeks and my hand kindly, gently.

"You're right," I murmured under my breath with a smile on my face and start heading towards the others.

Peaceful moments like these are rare and should be treasured.

Coming up to them just after they finished their handshake—if you can call it that— I smiled and called out, "Hey guys." For some reason I was panting from the run across the courtyard. I'll need some serious exercise after this. No more dawdling for me.

"Hey," Oz replied and got up.

"What were you doing all the way over there by yourself?" Elliot asked while getting up and standing beside Leo.

"Nothing."

"Here," Leo called and offered me a cup of tea. "Want some?"

"Sure!" I say with glee and a smile. I reached out and grabbed the cu—

—_**crack!—**_

At first the noise of it shattering was all I could hear. Then my sight kicked in when my eyes came down to the floor to see the broken cup that lay in pieces near my feet. Then just as quickly, they went over to my hands.

What the hell happened? The cup—it slipped right out of my grip. No, I thought I had held onto it. But...my hand, it didn't listen.

"Claire?" At hearing Elliot's concerned voice, I gazed upward to see concern in their faces.

But before anybody could say anything, I played it off with a nervous laugh. "S-Sorry. I guess I'm still tired. I'll go get some more!" They had no chance to call to me before I was out of their earshot. Slipping out of sight, I leaned up against a tree and simply stared at my hands. They were shaking so much. I couldn't stop them from doing that. Instead all I could do was hold onto them tightly.

"I'm fine. I-I'm probably just tired. Yeah, it's that." But no matter how much I tried deluding myself in those lies, I knew that something was happening to me.

_"Steadily but surely, this will cause your body to stop functioning."_

Barma's words rung out in my mind while I stood there dreading something that had began already. It must have been sometime that I had gone out because Leo had gone out of his way to go look for me.

"Are you okay?" he asked as we headed back to the table were Elliot was.

"Yeah. I'm fine, promise." It hurt that I was lying through my teeth. Specially since it was Leo whom I was lying to. They didn't need to know. I...I will die regardless. Better they not know about something they can't help.

So instead of sulking and dreading it, I let that care go away just for the day and spent it with a smile on my face. After sometime, Mister Oscar began calling for us to gather.

"There's all reason to celebrate!" he called out gleefully.

He was right. We had to enjoy pleasantries like these. Even I knew that. That's why I needed to tread forth and not let fear get the best of me. No matter what I needed to continue living. Even if—if I'm really dying.

That didn't matter right now. I had to be grateful for getting to spend times like these with the people I loved.

"I'm really happy to be here with you all! That's it! Today's a wonderful ordinary day, isn't it?"

Yeah, it was. It was a beautiful and wonderful ordinary day.

It's always been easy for me to love the people I care about. They're my everything. So, yes, I will always champion the ones I love, Cloude. You, Oz, Alice, Gilbert, Sharon, Break, Reim, Vanessa, Leo and Elliot. All of them are the reason I am here. So from now onward I'll fight until there's nothing left in me. Until the last drop of life drains from me, I'll continue forth. I will live my life happily and to the fullest.

That's a promise that I'll keep to myself. Because...if I do that then—

"Happy Unbirthday!"

I'll be leaving behind a proof of my life.

* * *

_**First long chapter that I upload in a while -w-**_

_**This was a good one in my opinion. Still debating whether to make an extra chapter out of the party in itself. But that'll come later c: **_

_**For now stayed tuned for the next chapter ;3**_


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